


Collusion

by Aurum_Auri, Erinchu, GayandFortunate, loki_dokey, Lord_Overlord, neyla9, Sammykh, ToastyDehmer



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Atlas CEO Rhys, CEO rivals, M/M, Rhack Fandom Collaboration, rivals au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2020-03-09 18:38:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18922780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurum_Auri/pseuds/Aurum_Auri, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erinchu/pseuds/Erinchu, https://archiveofourown.org/users/GayandFortunate/pseuds/GayandFortunate, https://archiveofourown.org/users/loki_dokey/pseuds/loki_dokey, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_Overlord/pseuds/Lord_Overlord, https://archiveofourown.org/users/neyla9/pseuds/neyla9, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sammykh/pseuds/Sammykh, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToastyDehmer/pseuds/ToastyDehmer
Summary: Definition of collusion: secret agreement or cooperation especially when acting for an illegal or deceitful purpose.----------->This is something a little different.The Rhack fandom has come together to produce a singular fanfic with art per chapter from incredible fandom artists. Each chapter will be written by a different member of the fandom and art will be drawn by someone else. We won't lie to you - who knows where this will go. Nonetheless, we hope you enjoy!The rating is 'E' for a reason - it can only be assumed that smut will ensue eventually!





	1. A Business Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends. Welcome to the first chapter of the Rhack Collab! I'll be your first author and the artist who will blow you away with their incredible take on my work is @spacejellybeans (please find and follow her on twitter/tumblr/etc). I really hope I've gotten this off to a good start and that you like where this is going. 
> 
> You can also hmu on twitter (@_loki_dokey) and tumblr (@loki-dokey) ;)
> 
> Co-creators will be added as the fic progresses.
> 
> (If you're reading on mobile, scroll across for the full artwork when you get to it!).

It was three in the morning on a Sunday when Jack was awoken by the steady rattling of his space station. A low, deep rumble echoed through the halls of Helios and when his eyes shot open, Jack's first thought was that the entire Hyperion base was falling apart and that they were under attack. A large shadow that passed across the room had him throwing back the sheets, racing to the window and slamming his hands against the wall of glass, heart thumping. A ship - bigger than he'd ever seen - was slowly powering past Helios, descending upon Pandora. He followed the length of it with his gaze, scrunching his eyes a few times to make sure he wasn't still dreaming. As his blurry eyes focused, his vision came to rest on the logo that adorned the side of the gigantic vessel.

"Atlas," he repeated under his breath. His mind raced, trying to dart between lack of sleep and mining for information. The name rang a bell. Yeah, he'd heard of them. They'd been an old Pandoran company who'd retreated back to Promethea years ago after the idiots fell bankrupt. It had been way before Jack had come into power. Tassiter had always been one to complain about the company but really, he'd been one to complain about pretty much everything, so Jack had never paid them a lot of attention. Nevertheless, a knot tied in his stomach and bile licked its way up to his throat. What the _fuck_ were they doing back?

He next noted the smaller spacecraft that were following the mother ship and lost track as he tried to count them all.

"Holy _hell_."

With a grunt, he ran a hand down his face. He was too fucking tired for all this bullshit. His hands balled into fists and before he could firmly smack himself awake, his ECHO buzzed on the nightstand. He quickly snatched it up and returned to the window, a hand on his hip.

"You seeing this?" Jack snapped down the line, not giving his PA a chance to speak. He closed his eyes and snarled. " _Atlas_ is back."

"I saw, sir," Meg said softly, her voice thick with sleep. "I'm already in the process of emailing the board for a seven am meeting. Is that acceptable?"

Jack's eyes flew open. "Make it six. Tell them if they're not there on the hour, I'll fucking kill 'em."

"That's already disclosed in your permanent email sign-off to the directors, sir."

"Good."

"I wonder what they want?" she said, her voice small and concerned. It took everything in Jack not to let out a bellow of rage; instead, he opted to slam his fist against the glass. He did _not_ need this. He really did _not_ need another douchebag swooping in to stake a claim over what was rightfully _his. He_ had the ground. _He_ had the numbers. Pandora was Handsome Jack’s and there was no way in hell that he was giving it up without a fight.

"What do _you_ think they want, sir?" Meg asked. Jack took a deep breath, narrowed eyes locking onto the Atlas ship.

 

 

"They _want_ my fucking _planet._ "

 

*

 

Jack hadn't slept in days. Currently, his poor, heavy head was resting on his desk and his eyes were tightly screwed shut because if he didn't focus on keeping his cool he _would_ bludgeon a man to _death_. He squeezed his fists. _To death._ He was overworked, overtired and over this goddamn Atlas company already. He'd _planned_ on sending hellfire blazing down on the pilfering Atlas scum in the form of a couple well-aimed moonshots and an invasion but had been talked out of it by his stupid board of directors - something about 'suicide missions' and 'keeping the peace’ and ‘avoiding an all-out planet-wide war’ or some bullshit like that. In truth, Jack would _love_ a good firefight. He needed to shoot some sons of bitches in the face or in the dick just to release some energy and boy would he love to get that asshole Atlas CEO on his knees to put a bullet in his brain. But Jack wouldn't get to do that. Couldn't do that. Not unless those Atlas idiots screwed up big time. Groaning, he rolled his head around and sat up, slumping back into his chair.

Instead, he'd had to watch from afar as Atlas quickly established itself on Pandora. They had already developed their headquarters and had taken various points on the planet in a matter of days. To top it all off, they were making huge strides in weapons sales. Huge. The arrival of a new-old weapons manufacturer seemed to have sparked the interest of the natives and bandits and many had flocked to weapons machines all over the planet to purchase Atlas’ munitions. Jack's fingers, aching as they were, twitched at the thought. They were itching to curl around the neck of the beast and hurl it back to whatever dark fucking hole it had crawled from. Pulling at his jaw, he dragged his eyes over to the screen on his desk which was open on a live feed of the Pandoran stock market. Every passing second, Atlas was going up in the world. Jack buried his head into his hands and let out the roar of anguish that had been building in his chest.

“Coffee, sir,” Meg announced, appearing beside him like a goddess sent from above. He hadn’t even heard her enter the room. She sighed and patted him on the shoulder as his hands slid from his face and he took the coffee. He slumped forward again and laid his head in his folded arms, the screen illuminating his eyes and his finger tapping on the warm mug in his hand. Meg tutted. “Staring at that won’t make things better. What might is that the shipment of their weaponry you procured arrived in R&D on schedule this morning. They’re expecting you down there."

“This,” Jack waved a hand at the screen, “is a fucking nightmare.”

A look of sympathy crossed the girl’s features and she sighed again, tilting her head to the side and staring at the screen. The hand on his shoulder tightened its grip. She leant forward and flicked off the monitor, dropping to her knees at his side. He turned his head, still resting on his arms, and admired the slyness of her expression.

“Go and check out their stupid guns. Take them apart piece by piece and find out what makes Atlas tick. Get the upper hand, Jack. You know that’s what you’re good at. Make them pay by beating them the way you know best.”

A small smile crept onto Jack’s lips. Yes, she was right; of _course_ she was right. He stood abruptly, fingertips pressed onto his desk, and grinned.

 

Atlas was about to get their ass whipped.

 

He made his way down to R&D with a skip in his step, whistling as he exited the elevator. Oh boy, he was ready to demolish this company who thought they could just waltz onto Pandora by flying right past his front door. What a dick move - they clearly _wanted_ a fight. There was a crowd of people in the central lab, fighting to see what was being brought into the centre of the room. Jack greedily pulled himself right through the scientists, knocking one particularly measly one to the floor in the effort to get to his guns. There was a group of his best developers huddled around them but Jack barked and they parted like sheep. The makeshift crate was already open and when Jack lunged forward to get a look, he swore under his breath. Four of the most distressingly beautiful guns laid there in their padded container, sleek and gorgeous and...and sexier than any weapons Jack had ever seen. His mind whirred with the implications of this. Nevertheless, he slammed his hands down on the edge of the crate and let out a forced shriek of disgust. No one, damn it, _no one_ would tell him that these were better quality than his. No one...but his own damn _eyes. Fuck's sake._ He wanted to punch something but sucked in a breath instead. He wanted to pour lighter fluid into the box and burn it all but traced his fingers across the infuriatingly pretty pistol instead. A lump formed in his throat and immediately, rage consumed him. Atlas wouldn't have this over him. They couldn't have this over him. He grabbed the box and yanked, spilling the weapons to the floor. He then turned to his R&D team, who had fallen silent since his arrival, and spread his arms. He swallowed the mass in his throat and grimaced, gesturing at the trash all over the floor.

“This is what Atlas came here to sell? Abominations? How pathetic _.”_

“Would you like us to-”

“Take them apart,” Jack growled, eyes never leaving the weapons on the ground. “Rip them to shreds and tell me what these Atlas pieces of shit are carrying. I don’t want a soul leaving this lab until I have a full report on each gun…” He sneered and bent, sliding his hand around the pistol. His whole body shuddered. “If you could even _call_ them that.”

“Don’t you think they’re stunning, sir?”

Jack snapped and he shot the idiotic scientist beside him in the leg. A howl erupted, along with a spurt of blood, but Jack didn’t care. Oh, he didn’t care at all. He was too busy taking in how that had _felt._ The kickback on the pistol was downright erotic, though he hated to admit it to himself. And whatever that grip was made from...the sensation it sent through his hand…through his _cock…_ He bit down on his lip.

 

_Shit._

 

“Sir!” Meg’s voice broke through the crowd. She pushed her way towards him and Jack really didn’t like the way her eyes were wide and her cheeks were pale. She reached him and clutched her clipboard to her chest. “Sir, we have a problem.”

“ _What_?” he hissed, tossing the wretched gun back at the box. “What now?”

The look on her face, panicked and wary, warped into downright fear. He had seen it before. It was the face she always pulled moments before he went fucking crazy.

“What _is_ it, Meg?” He stepped into her space, eyes already wild.

“It’s Atlas,” she murmured. She lifted her eyes from the floor. “They’ve gained access to one of our abandoned Eridium mines and...they managed to get it working again.”

 

She’d been right, of course.

 

Jack had gone absolutely apeshit.

 

*

 

“Where is he?” Jack roared, tearing out of his Hyperion shuttle and cursing Atlas to hell when he had to stop because twenty guns were being aimed at his face, heart and dick. He scowled, his own Hyperion men crowding behind him with their weapons poised. He pointed at one particularly smug-looking Atlas soldier. “Where the hell is your boss?”

“Hello!” came a sing-song voice from his right. He swung his head around to take in whoever it was and was oddly intrigued by what he saw. A young man, dressed head to toe in black with the occasional dapple of orange, was standing between the Atlas guards with his hands tucked behind his back and his hair perfectly coiffed. He was a pretty thing, Jack decided, admiring the brave little smirk on his lips. The man leant forward, his smirk growing. “You must be Handsome Jack.”

Jack folded his arms. “And you are?”

“Personal assistant to the CEO. I’m assuming your _sudden_ arrival at Atlas corp is due to your excitement to meet him? I'm not surprised! I’d be happy to take you to him if that’s what you would like?” The smarmy tone and sarcastic, sharp tongue had Jack on edge. There was mischief in the kid’s eyes, but then again Atlas was a greasy dickhead of a company so of course all of the employees matched. The corner of Jack’s lip upturned sourly and he advanced forward with his Hyperion guards, but the PA raised a long, slender finger and waggled it back and forth, tutting.

“No no, that just won’t do. No soldiers. No weapons. Can’t have the possibility of an unfortunate misfire affecting the diligent work of our employees!” He clapped his hands and Jack could have smacked him in the mouth. The PA turned on his heel. “This way!”

With great hesitation, Jack waved off his guards and followed the irritating man into the building where he was stripped of his own weapons, scanned and processed. The PA grabbed him before he walked through the final metal detector and pointed. Jack's eyes followed his finger. Something flashed.

 

They gave him a _pass_ with an ugly-ass  _photo_ on it.

 

Jack pulled a face at the PA as a receptionist handed it to him and the assistant beamed widely before looping it over his head and hurrying them along further into the Atlas building. Everywhere inside was dripping with luxuries that even Hyperion didn't choose to provide. It all made Jack’s stomach turn. Where had this company _come_ from? How had they established themselves so quickly on Pandora and done it so...so _lavishly_? They walked through many hallways of expensive tech and well-dressed employees, many eyeing Jack with the same disdain he’d seen lurking in the eyes of the CEO’s assistant. The idiot hadn't stopped babbling since Jack had arrived and it was really starting to grind the Hyperion man's gears.

“-and you must understand, our boss is a very busy man and you should be _thrilled_ that he’s dropping everything he's working on to meet with you-”

“Can you please shut up?” Jack snapped, hand running through his hair. All he wanted to do was march - alone - up to the stupid prick of a CEO and wring his neck in _peace_.

As they rounded a corner, Jack spotted a sign to their R&D department and he flicked his eyes back and forth between the sign and the PA just ahead of him. A small grin flickered on his lips; the things he could _do_ with the information stored in there. Oh yes, he'd absolutely destroy Atlas from the inside out if he knew he wouldn't die in the process. A cunning plan began to concoct itself in his head. One chop to the back of the neck of that an annoying excuse for a PA and he could sneak in, steal something, run back to the shuttle and-

“Want a peek?”

Jack shook his head and stilled for a few seconds. The PA had turned around, apparently during his crazed moment of scheming, and was now gesturing at the set of doors. Jack’s mouth fell open. Cocking his head to the side, the assistant shrugged.

“It’s really no bother.”

Blinking, Jack looked back from the kid to the doors and then back again. “I don’t under-...I’m sorry what?”

Waving him off, the assistant smiled, but something strange cut through the warmth he’d pushed into the action. It unnerved Jack and now he really didn’t trust a hair on that little thing’s head. No matter - the glass blade in his jacket pocket would help if push came to shove. And so what if there were a little pushing and shoving? Jack would win, of course. Duh. He was Handsome Jack. Atlas had nothing on him (except cooler guns and competitive stocks --- _get it_ _together, asshole_ ). To get into the R&D department of Atlas _would_ be something _else._ He’d only need to swipe something small and he’d have a leg up over this clearly moronic company. Letting competition into their research department? Letting _Handsome Jack_ into their research department? If this had been _his_ PA, he’d have squeezed the life out of him for this. Instead, Jack allowed his own “warm” smile to curl onto his lips.

“Lead the way.”

 

*

 

The PA flitted about, pointing out a variety of developments with great enthusiasm. Jack followed like an excitable puppy dog, noting the ways Atlas were working and the strategies they were implementing. He couldn’t believe what was happening - he was a freaking kid in a candy store.  He tried not to run his mouth over the poison weapon prototype the PA showed him, literally shoving it into his hands and beaming at him as he looked it over.

“This is something _else_ ,” he muttered, mesmerised, watching the purple liquid swirl under the surface of the state-of-the-art gun. He wished then and there that he could just sew his stupid mouth shut because the PA arched his eyebrow, watching Jack closely.

“You’re impressed.”

Jack moved his head from side to side as his lips turned down. “It’s alright, I ‘spose. I mean, Hyperion is working on something similar-”

To Jack’s surprise, the PA let out a bark of laughter. “Pah! You don’t have a patent for that!” Immediately following his blurted comment, his eyes widened and the man straightened, regaining composure. “Ahem. It’s patented under the name of the Atlas’ corporation. You’d be breaching infringement if you were developing such a weapon." He stepped closer, dragging a finger along the workbench. "So I _highly_ doubt that you are, Jack.” It was the way that his name slipped off of his tongue that made a breath catch in Jack’s throat. He coughed a little before tossing the downright ugly, _obnoxious_ gun back onto the workbench.

“You have no _idea_ what’s in our pipeline, kitten,” he growled, voice rolling like thunder. His features darkened and he stepped towards the assistant who didn’t even have the decency to goddamn _flinch._ Jack’s rage began to boil inside him at the insolence. What a prick?! Anyone at Hyperion would have shit their _pants_ at Jack's advance, but not this guy. No, he simply _sneered_ at him and stood his ground like a champ. That was it for Jack. His hand flew out, ready to take him by the scruff of the shirt (he assumed the throat would have had him killed) but jerked and stumbled when he was stopped abruptly by the hand around his wrist. The kid’s _hand_ . What freakishly strong bullshit? The two men glared at one another but the PA was first to break. He cracked a smirk and Jack’s eyes slid to his hand; for the first time, he noticed that it was cybernetic. It was the highest quality cybernetic hand Jack had _ever_ seen. The craftsmanship...the _intricacies._ He gasped despite himself.

“Holy hell, that’s sick.”

The grip tightened around his wrist to the point where it was painful but he was still so in shock that he didn’t make another move. He just gawked at the hand, and then at the man before him. Their eyes met, all hints of the smirk now gone, and it suddenly dawned on Jack that this tight piece of ass was hot as _fuck_. If he could shove some tape over his arrogant mouth, he would thoroughly wreck Atlas's PA. Maybe just to piss the asshole off. Maybe just because Jack hadn't gotten himself laid in a while. No matter the reason, it really just came down to the fact that Jack hadn't realised being challenged toe-to-toe was apparently a kink? Of his? It hadn't really happened before. At least not in a way that had left Jack speechless.

An agonising squeeze brought him back to reality and he very quickly noted that perhaps it would probably just be just as effective to his libido to kill the PA. A little blood always got Jack going. Plus, if he didn't stop thinking with his dick then it would land him in all sorts of trouble. Jack dragged his gaze to the man in question who now had his lip curled under his teeth and his eyebrows low, heterochromatic eyes travelling over Jack’s own features. A small shift in his breathing, in the rise and fall of his chest, was barely obvious but Jack saw _everything_. Maybe a fuck shouldn't be off the table? It was finally his turn to smirk.

“You gonna let go, pumpkin? Or do I have to prise myself out of your cold, dead, pretty little fingers?”

The PA scoffed and released his hold, immediately turning to the table and picking up the poison gun. He inspected it closely, wiping a speck of dirt from the trigger. Jack watched silently as the man almost caressed it, running a slow finger along the barrel.

“Oh, I won't be one of those who are dying today,” he murmured, winking at Jack and moving in the direction of the door. The comment was backhanded, but rather than fearing for his life Jack found himself following his semi-hard dick out of the door.

 

*

 

They reached a large set of double doors and the PA swept in, almost letting the door slam on Jack’s face but catching it just in time. Jack rolled his eyes as he entered an imposing office filled with sleek black furniture and lavish decor. A strange machine whirred in the corner and a menacing cranchala fish swam around in an enormous tank on the far wall, teeth glistening in its orange tank lights. The PA offered Jack the seat that sat before the desk.

“I think I’ll stand, thanks,” Jack replied, words filled with venom that he couldn’t wait to inject into the thieving Atlas tool who owned this place. The PA shrugged.

“Suit yourself. He’ll be along in a moment.”

Jack huffed a laugh and looked around some more, taking in what the room had to offer. It was smaller than his own office but warmer in more ways than one. A bead of sweat trickled to the top of his mask. He noticed that the machine in the corner was bubbling with some kind of electric blue substance and he went to examine it more closely but thought against it. He couldn’t be shown to think he thought anything Atlas had was even mildly interesting. He eventually turned his attention back to the desk and drew back in surprise when he found the PA sitting there, a silver gun in his hand and a smile on his mouth.

“Jack, I presume?” he asked, voice all of a sudden deeper and filled with intimidation. His eyes flashed with malice.

 

This man was no PA.

 

"So nice of you to drop by. I’m Rhys.” He cocked the gun, aimed it at Jack’s head and grinned wickedly. “CEO of the Atlas corporation.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to follow @spacejellybeans - that art. Phew. I'm nothing short of amazed. 
> 
> Please let us know what you think of both writing and art in the comments and leave kudos if you're intrigued by the collaboration of fans and want to see more! 
> 
> If you're interested in joining the collab and doing some art/writing, send me a DM on twitter and I'll get you a link to our discord server. Please be aware that the server is NSFW and 18+ only.


	2. Playing with the Business End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello and thank you for all of the support you've shown our fanfiction collaboration so far. 
> 
> This brilliant second chapter has been written by Sammykh and the fantastic art you'll discover as you read on was produced by @nastiibruja on Twitter! Please go send them both some love for their work!
> 
> The next chapter and its artwork will be uploaded here by the 20th of June. 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> (On mobile, swipe left to see to see the full art when you reach it!)

Well shit.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, but I’ll be taking Pandora now,” Rhys said with a smirk, his finger ready on the trigger.

 

Trying to ignore the way the look on Rhys’s face fuelled his arousal, Jack narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t about to admit that he'd been blindsided. 

“If it were that easy to kill me, kiddo, I’d have been worm food _loooong_ before this,” he sneered, his hand inching towards his hip where his gun would be. “Pandora is mine.” He resisted the urge to curse as he remembered that he'd been disarmed.

“You think so?” Rhys asked, still smirking, his golden eye lighting up and following Jack’s hand. “Maybe the reason you're still alive is because you just haven’t met anyone better than you yet.”

Jack wasted no more time in activating his cloaking device and moving out of the way as Rhys fired, the bullet leaving a smoking hole in the wall behind him.

“Too slow, Atlas~” he taunted from Rhys’s side, the golden eye remaining lit as Rhys pointed the gun in his direction. 

Jack moved softly as not to be heard. He resisted the urge to chuckle to himself as he circled the kid, Rhys looking around and listening for Jack. Too easy.

 

Moving forward, Jack pulled the hidden glass knife from its sheath in his jacket and wrapped his hand around Rhys's throat, letting his cloak dissipate. The strangled sounds that came from Rhys's throat sent heat spiking straight down to his crotch and Jack let out a laugh. He aimed the knife at Rhys’s gun hand just as metal fingers wrapped around the wrist of the hand around Rhys's throat and yanked it away. The action caused Jack to fall forward and catch his hand on the desk, leaving his face inches from Rhys's. The slight grimace of the Atlas CEO had Jack glancing to the side and grinning as he noted he had Rhys's hand disarmed and pinned to the desk by the knife that had sunken into his palm.

“Being under me ain't a bad look for you, Atlas,” Jack mused, kicking the gun away and sending it clattering to the other side of the office. With the metal of Rhys’s other hand keeping his left hand to the desk, Jack raised his right, snickering as the knife stayed in place, and pressed his hand against his collarbone. Rhys winced as he made a move to pull free, only to irritate the wound. 

“You  _ wish _ ” Rhys sneered, despite the brief flash of interest in his eyes. He then slammed his knee up into Jack’s crotch, and Jack cursed as he doubled. Shit, it hurt so much more after that sudden closeness had gotten him hard. Rhys took the opportunity to pull on Jack’s arm, sending him off balance long enough for Rhys to pull the knife out of his hand. With a cry of pain, Rhys dropped the knife and scrambled for the gun.

“Oh no you don’t, pumpkin!” Jack snarled as he recovered enough to grab Rhys around the waist and slam him back into the desk, earning an elbow to the chin as a result. Jack began wrapping his hands around Rhys’s neck, only to be thwarted as a metal hand landed against his jaw. Jack retaliated with a punch of his own and the two continued to grapple until they fell to the floor with a thud. Jack had Rhys pinned under him but Rhys grabbed the knife that lay on the ground and aimed to stab. Jack had to raise an arm to block, but Rhys had feigned, instead cutting Jack’s shield from his belt. 

“ _Shit_ ” was the only reaction Rhys allowed Jack to have before flipping Jack onto his back and pressing the knife against his throat, both men panting heavily from the struggle.

“You were right, it  _ wasn’t _ easy to kill you,” Rhys mused, the knife against Jack’s neck drawing a sliver of blood as they both caught their breath.

[ ](https://ibb.co/DzrnHLG)

“I’m not dead yet, princess,” Jack hissed, teeth gritting as anger filled him once more. He gripped the metal wrist holding the knife to his throat. Like hell he was going to let fucking Atlas keep one-upping him. "Pandora is  _ mine _ !" he growled again as he aimed a punch, successfully knocking Rhys over with only minor damage to his throat.

"Ghh," Rhys groaned as he recovered. 

 

This time, Jack didn't linger; instead, he made a beeline for the gun on the other side of the room. Rhys recovered quickly however and made a reach for the gun as well. Jack snatched it first and stood, only to get it kicked from his hand. Damn, the kid had long legs  _ and _ flexibility. Jack blocked another punch from Rhys after staring a little too long.

"Take a picture Hyperion, it'll last longer."

Jack blocked a third hit before he realized too late that Rhys had gotten too close to that gun. With a curse, Jack made a lunge - for Rhys or the gun he didn't know - but Rhys bent down, picked up the gun and took a step back while pointing it at Jack. 

Too late again.

Rhys smirked, panting and holding his bleeding hand to his chest as his metal arm kept the gun pointed. 

"Going to go 'invisible' again Jack?" he taunted. “Are you going to risk it without your shield? Have any more tricks?” He stepped closer but stopped just out of Jack’s reach, gun still trained on his corporate rival.  Jack glared. There really wasn’t much else he could do without a weapon. The damn brat must have been cheating.

"No? Nothing to say? Good." He shook his head and chuckled. "I can see through your cloaking anyways with my eye, I've noticed. There's a contract on my desk. You are going to sign over Pandora to me."

Jack scoffed. "Right, like I'll ever-" Rhys shot the ground at Jack's feet. Rhys just smiled as Jack flinched, taking a step away as Rhys aimed the gun back at his head.

"Or I can just kill you and take Pandora anyway. Your choice, Handsome Jack." Rhys leered, leaning against the desk just slightly. Jack's eyes narrowed as he slowly walked around the desk. "The pen is right next to the contract~" Rhys added smugly.

"Yeah? No shit," Jack muttered as he picked up the contract to start reading it.

"Na-ah-ah, sign it, Jack! Why ruin the surprise?" Rhys fiddled with the trigger of the gun threateningly. 

Jack rolled his eyes and set the paper down to pick up the pen, beginning to write on the dotted line. Once he'd finished, he flipped the paper onto its face, set the pen down and crossed his arms.

"Now what, princess? Going to ask me to dance for you? Put on a show?" 

Rhys shook his head and gestured for the door. "You're free to leave, Handsome. Thank you so much for stopping by~"

"Yeahaha, a fuckin' pleasure. Be sure to take care of that hand, kitten. A wound like that can do permanent damage," Jack sneered as he walked to the door.

Rhys's smile grew tight as he sent an echo message to his guards to open the door and escort Jack out. 

 

Once Jack was out of the room, Rhys holstered his gun and hurried to his desk to find his first aid kit. His shipment of Anshin Hypos hadn't arrived yet so he was reliant on primitive means of taking care of his wounds for now. Pulling out the kit, he cleaned and wrapped the wound on his hand quickly.

Once that was out of the way, Rhys frowned at the paper and flipped it.

" _ Suck my dick Atlas!!! _ " the contract read, and Rhys grabbed the paper in his metal arm and crumpled it. 

"Goddamnit!" he shouted as he threw it. He took a moment to take a deep breath. "Guards, stop the shuttle from leaving!" he ordered into his ECHO.

" _ Uhh, sir we have more...pressing matters." _

"What do you mean? What's happening?"

" _ Bandits are attacking. The uh, the good news is that the Hyperion shuttle won't be leaving anytime soon..." _

 

 

 

"Son of a  _ bitch _ ."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments will make both the writers and the artists so happy and pleased that people have enjoyed their work. To keep up to date with chapter uploads, subscribe and bookmark the fic! 
> 
> If you're a writer or an artist who is interested in joining the collaboration, DM me on Twitter @_loki_dokey and I'll give you access to our Discord server (must be 18+).


	3. A Little Scavenger Hunt Never Killed Anybody...Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooooo!!!! Chapter 3!!! And it's only been gone done written by my best friend, Erin (@erinchu)! She's the fantastic writer who produced the treasured 'In Bloom' rhack fanfic. You know the one, I'm sure. And the incredible TWO PIECES OF ART (we're spoiled) were done by the wonderfully talented Tepperz (@TepperzDay).
> 
> Next chapter will be up in two weeks! :) 
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> [As always, swipe across when you get to the art to see the full pictures if you're on mobile!]

“Hehehehe…” Jack quietly chuckled to himself as the elevator doors slid open and he stepped out of the spacious metal box and into the main entrance lobby. 

“For someone who believes he’s so fucking smart, you’d think he’d check the contract before letting me go.” A thunderous laugh erupted from the Hyperion CEO’s belly and he leaned forward a bit to rest his palms on his knees as he sucked in air. “Oh god damn, what I would have given to see the little shit's face!”

Handsome Jack was, however, pulled out of his small victory celebration as the most annoying, high-pitched sirens started going off throughout the Atlas building.

God, even their alarm system had found a way to sound pretentious. He raised a brow as all the Atlas employees stopped what they were doing on the spot, scrambled to gather their things and began fleeing towards exits. Jack caught a particularly scrawny looking individual by the tie and held him up so the man was on his tip-toes. This pulled a startled-sounding yelp from the frantic looking man.

“Yo, what’s with the sounds show? Don’t tell me your boss is sadistic enough to make that noise,” Jack paused as he pointed up towards the ceiling, “your lunch bell or something?”

The young Atlas employee squirmed under Jack’s hold, whimpering softly as he tried to pull himself free from Jack’s freakishly large hand. 

“N-no! It’s our security alarm. Something or  _ someone  _ is attacking the building. Could you please let me go now? I need to run, literally.” 

Jack stuck his tongue into his cheek and rolled his eyes deeply as he tossed the young man aside, watching with slight amusement as he took off screaming towards one of the exits. Several more employees came rushing out of the elevators and even had the nerve to slam into Jack as they passed by. The fucking audacity of these Atlas creeps. Jack couldn’t wait to be out of the building, honestly. He wasn’t worried about whatever waited for them all outside. He could handle himself, no problem. Just as he went to turn towards the exit to his shuttle though, a thought occurred. Atlas was in a panic at the moment, guards scattered everywhere, employees abandoning their posts to get to safety, their idiot CEO still probably fuming up in his office over the lovely little message Jack had left for him. This was the perfect time to strike. Jack rubbed his hands together as a wicked smirk pulled across his mask, his eyes sliding over towards the direction of Atlas’ R&D department.

“Mmmh, finders keepers,  _ Rhysie _ ,” Jack growled softly under his breath as his hand slipped down his body to his pocket watch, his fingers delicately brushing against it. In an instant, he had vanished.

 

* * *

 

“Goddamn it, what do you  _ mean _ bandits broke into the facility!?” Rhys barked at one of his security heads who stood before him, his hands splayed across his desk as he tried to steady himself. The man before Rhys faltered a bit, his throat softly clearing as he tried to regain his composure.

“I-I’m not entirely sure, sir. They must have disabled the security sensors around the perimeter. We didn’t detect anything as we were monitoring those areas. We-” The man paused again, swallowing dryly as he gave his CEO a knowing look. “We believe they knew Handsome Jack was here and that our focus would be on him and his people. They took advantage of the situation. As you know, they’ve been trying to find an in for weeks now and-”

The security guard's words were cut off as a glass vase came flying towards him, hitting the wall near his head and shattering everywhere. His eyes grew wide as he stared at Rhys. The young CEO seemed disturbingly calm given the sudden outburst of his that just occurred.

“I don’t care at this point how it happened. That’s something to figure out  _ later _ when we aren’t under attack. Gather your best men, assemble two teams. One to get our people to safety and a strike team to meet the bandits head on. They aren’t taking over my building.” Rhys’ heterochromatic eyes flicked up to the other man, a sharp intensity to them that made the security head flinch. The man nodded and without another word, spun on his heel to get to work.

“Wait!”

The man stopped instantly.

“Where the hell is Handsome Jack? Please tell me we still have a location on that bastard. He and I have some unfinished business to tend to.”

Rhys already knew by the way the man's shoulder slumped forward that he was not going to like his answer. 

“...We lost visual on him when all the chaos started downstairs...his shuttle and men are still here though, so we don’t think he’s left the planet... _ yet _ .”

The sound of metal crushing against itself echoed through the room as Rhys tightly balled his cybernetic hand up. He wasn’t ever really known for losing his temper; he always seemed very cool and collected, an effortless calmness to him. Something about Handsome Jack though just...got under his skin. The older man's arrogance and blatant disrespect for Rhys and Atlas made his blood boil like nothing else. He knew he needed to pull it together right now though and not take it out on his employees. He wasn’t Handsome Jack after all.

“Go, you know your tasks. Leave finding Jack to  _ me… _ ”

The security guard nodded and hastily flew out of the giant office doors. Once he was alone, Rhys swept around to the back of his desk, kneeling down in front of a drawer. He lifted a small metal clasp to reveal what looked like a scanner. Suddenly, his echo eye came to life, a golden orange glow filling the space around him and the scanner began moving, a blue light passing over his echo eye twice. Once it had stopped, Rhys heard the familiar sound of an intricate lock being undone and the drawer opened.

_ Click _

Wasting no more time, Rhys rose up to his feet, his eyes staring down at the contents of the desk. His flesh hand slid over the sleek, cool metal of a silver gun with orange accents and he shivered a bit before picking it up and loading it into a hostler in his waist jacket. His lips pressed into a hard line as he closed the drawer safe up and made a beeline towards the doors. His echo eye seemed to switch to a different mode than the previous, a faint blue glow surrounding the iris of his eye. He knew one way to find that slippery bastard.

“I am not going to let bandits get to him first… If anyone is killing Handsome Jack today, it’s god damn  _ me _ .”

 

* * *

 

 

Jack had to give it to some of the Atlas employees. The R&D nerds were some of the last to abandon ship, which both annoyed and impressed Jack. Annoyed, because that meant he had to wait outside the secured doors for them to come rushing out for much longer than he would have liked but impressed because they were really trying to guard whatever was in that room with their lives. He felt like, over the past few years, his own Hyperion employees were becoming less and less loyal like that. Maybe Atlas was on to something...

He shook those thoughts from his head as a large, metal door came swinging open and almost hit him square in the face. He watched as several people came rushing out and he carefully grabbed hold on the handle, moving with it so it would appear that it was closing. Once those Atlas idiots were out of his way, Jack slipped in with ease. He couldn’t help but let out a slightly devious laugh as he heard the door click behind him. It grew in volume as he saw no one else left in the R&D room and he uncloaked without a second thought. He remembered Rhys was able to see him before when he was invisible with that damn fancy robot eye of his, but he wondered if he’d be clever enough to catch him on an even playing field? He wasted no more time as he began rummaging through the entire room, making sure to touch as many things as he could and waiting until one thing made his dick twitch just the way he liked. Most people would say ‘trust your gut’ but Jack always trusted what his dick told him.

When nothing was doing it for him, he let out a sigh of frustration and kicked a nearby desk as hard as he could. He ignored the sounds from behind him as a bunch of items fell over on the surface of the desk and kept on with his search.

“Has to be something small enough that when those idiots undoubtedly search me, they won’t find it...why are all of  _ Atlasboy’s _ weapons so ostentatious and big? Compensating for something?” Jack chuckled to himself for a moment, taking pleasure in making digs at the younger man, even if he couldn’t hear them. He snapped himself back to reality though, reminding himself that he was on borrowed time here thanks to those bandit idiots and needed to focus. He began tossing desks and opening every container he could figure out how to unlock. With an extremely frustrated groan, Jack was about to give up when something on one of the desks caught his eye. The Hyperion CEO perked up immediately. Dick and all. 

Beneath a now completely shattered coffee cup that read ‘ _ Atlas is #1 _ !’, something was peeking out. Jack let out an amused snort as he carefully picked up the glass remains and tossed them aside.

“Yeah, number one at fucking  _ sucking _ ...who leaves something so  _ precious _ out in the open like this?” Jack’s eyes gazed over something small and sleek, the slightly holographic texture gleaming like a shining beacon of hope. Hope that this could be a key to getting a one up on Atlas. Jack may not have known much about Atlas or their products, but he knew computer data when he saw it. He carefully picked up the compact computer chip and held it in front of him, a wicked smirk dancing across his lips.

“Bingo,” Jack chuckled out in a singsong voice before carefully blowing any small glass pieces from the chip. “Well, don’t  _ you _ look important. I can’t wait to see what kind of secrets you have to tell Daddy.” Before Jack had time to sweet talk the thing anymore, he heard a loud commotion coming from behind the R&D doors. Bandits? Most likely. Rhys’ search party out looking for him? Possibly. Rhys  _ himself _ coming after Jack? He almost hoped… 

Jack rolled his eyes as he brought his focus back. There would be time for that later, ya know, if he escaped this whole ordeal alive. He tucked himself away in a corner just in case someone managed to get in. He began undoing one of the clasps on his mask and grinned to himself as the idea for a hiding spot for the chip came to mind. He knew there was no fucking way anyone would look for it there. To public knowledge, and this included Rhys and his stupid, dumb, over the top company, Jack’s mask was a permanent feature. No one but Jack’s daughter knew he could take the thing off. There was just enough space next to one of the clasps for the device to sit comfortably. Once his mask was securely back on, he walked over to one of the very shiny weapon crates in the room and used its reflective surface to check and make sure nothing looked out of place. He ran his hand over his face and flashed a toothy grin as he checked himself out, not even hearing the sound of the door pulling open.

“Mmh, I am lookin’ good.”

“I wouldn’t go  _ that _ far…”

The next sound Jack heard was the sound of a gun being cocked back.

 

* * *

 

 

“Sir, we have reports of employee casualties. The bandits have breached the main lobby and are making their way up the floors by staircase. What would you like us to do?”

Rhys was rushing through level three of the building, trying to get his people to safety and clear the floor of any bandits as one of his security men updated him every step of the way. He had pushed finding Jack to the back of his mind once he knew his people were in danger. The Atlas CEO froze though as he heard the news about his employees.

“Damn it…” Rhys growled through gritted teeth, his cybernetic hand clenching tightly by his side as he thought for a moment. An idea came to him and he snapped his flesh fingers loudly. “How many other floors haven’t been cleared yet?”

“Just the last two, sir. We started from the top and worked out way down.”

“Right, good. I want you to pull our men back and start intercepting  _ our _ people. Stop having them use the main emergency exits and start funneling them through my private ones. There’s no way in hell those bandit bastards would even know what to look for it. To hell with the building, our employees need to be the first priority at this point. Make it happen, Jenkins.”

The man called Jenkins nodded and began radioing his men, relaying all the information Rhys had just given him. Rhys chewed over his lower lip as he listened, praying to whatever gods were listening that this worked. His tech, they couldn’t crack. His weapons, they wouldn’t be smart enough to use. The building could always be repaired but his people couldn’t be replaced if they lost their lives. Rhys knew when it was time to fall back for the good of the company. Something he knew Handsome Jack never seemed to learn. 

Jack…

“Oh, fuck.” Rhys grabbed Jenkins by the back of his shirt collar and pulled him back just as the man was springing into action. “Please tell me you have an update on where the hell that Hyperion imbecile is?”

Jenkins grimaced a bit and shook his head, flashing his boss a sympathetic look.

“Shuttles still here and everything, sir. He has to be somewhere in the building. Alarms tripped on level two and six of the building, but no bandits have been seen there. He may have taken shelter on one of those floors when he heard the sirens?”

Rhys nodded a bit as he let the other man go, nodding him towards the door.

“Leave it to me, I’ll check them out. Be careful out there.”

“You too, sir.”

With a confident nod from each man, they parted ways. Rhys made his way towards the elevators, a hurried spring in his step. Level two. He already knew that that’s where Jack would be. He knew this because that’s the level that his goddamn R&D department was on. Rhys slid his hand over the gun in at his waist, his fingers tapping against the cool metal as he rode the elevator down. Oooh, he was gonna kill Handsome Jack if it was the last thing he did…

_ Ding. _

The elevator doors slid open and Rhys was greeted by the ugly face of a bandit who began instantly screaming nonsense at him. Rhys had no time for such trivial things though. He was on a CEO hunt. Before the bandit even had time to realize what Rhys was doing, he had pulled that very shiny gun from his hip and fired. Rhys shielded his eyes a bit as the bandit before him disintegrated right before his very eyes in a puff of red. Rhys let out an almost bored sigh as he stepped over where the bandit once was and continued on towards the R&D room. He made it with ease - most of the bandits hadn’t even reached this far up yet. Slow moving for a group of people trying to infiltrate a building, but hey. Rhys wasn’t complaining.

Rhys rested his back against the wall next to the door of the room, his echo eye whirling to life as he scanned the contents inside. He didn’t see anyone cloaking or any immediate signs of someone being in the room, but Rhys could just feel Jack’s presence. An overabundance of shitty attitude and way too much confidence. He reached over and punched in the code for the door quickly and grabbed hold on the door handle, slowly pulling it open as not to make any noise. He slipped inside, leaving the door open behind him and immediately heard a familiar voice.

“Mmh, I am lookin’ good.”

“I wouldn’t go  _ that _ far…” Rhys took a breath as he stepped in closer toward Jack, his gun already drawn. He kept his eyes trained on Jack as he pulled the lever back on the weapon. “Handsome doesn’t seem like the right word to describe you.  _ Detestable _ Jack sounds better, you should consider changing it.”

Jack looked surprised for just a moment as his hands shot up a bit in the air as if he were surrendering.

“Hahaha,  _ wooooah  _ there, kiddo. Easy. I’m just an innocent victim in this little bandit raid here. Honestly, I’m surprised and a bit disappointed in you, Rhysie. I thought your defenses would be better than this. Ha, I mean,” Jack wheezed out a laugh, his hand slapping against his thigh. “Yeah, your weapons' sales may be better, but at least  _ MY _ company has never been infiltrated by freaking  _ BANDITS _ ! That’s gotta bruise that pretty little ego of yours, no?”

Rhys had stayed surprisingly calm during all of that. Jack’s smile fell slightly, hoping to at least rile the younger man up just a little bit. He let out a sigh as he started to walk towards Rhys, the act causing the other man to step in front of his path, gun aimed straight at his face.

“I thought you’d be better at trying to steal from me,  _ Jack _ .” The way Rhys had said his name made the older man shiver a little. It was dripping with so much disdain and malice, Jack was actually a little hurt. Even if it happened to be true that Jack was stealing from him, Rhys didn’t know that. Jack placed his hand over his chest and gripped at his own shirt, letting out a pained gasp, a fake look of hurt all over his face.

“Why Rhysie, whatever do you mean? I would  _ never _ !”

A loud, strange sounding fire echoed through the room as Rhys fired a shot into the ceiling. Jack’s eyes trailed up as he saw the large, completely perfect hole in the tiling above him. His brows furrowed and he swallowed quietly as he looked back at Rhys.

“This isn’t a joke, Jack. I have people who have died today. Did you do this? All this just to try and steal something from Atlas?” Rhys’ voice grew in volume as he spoke, his hand shaking a little as he gripped his gun tighter. Jack narrowed his eyes and tilted his head a bit as he leaned in towards the other man.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You heard me! Did you do this!? Did you coordinate a bandit attack on my company while you were here just to fucking steal from me!?”

It was Jack’s turn to look pissed off now. He took a step towards Rhys without hesitation, closing the space between them. One of his hands shot out and he grabbed hold of the gun, moving it away from his face. Rhys had cursed himself for using his flesh hand to hold this gun, as it wasn’t as strong - Jack had easily overpowered him. His heterochromatic eyes trailed up to meet Jack’s and he glared harshly, not budging a bit.

“Listen up, princess. I don’t play dirty like that.” Jack took another step towards Rhys, but he still didn’t move back. “The only time I like to play dirty is in the bedroom. But even if I wanted to, I sure as  _ fuck _ wouldn’t use bandits to do my bidding for me. Please, Rhys. Show me  _ some _ goddamn respect.”

Rhys stayed very quiet and still as he spoke. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but something in Jack’s eyes told him he was telling him the truth. At least about the bandit part. Rhys let out a short, harsh breath before crowding Jack right back, their noses almost practically touching.

“Fine, the bandits aren’t your doing. But I know you took something from this room. I’d like it back, please.”

“Oh yeah?!” Jack mused, throwing his head back as he laughed before returning to meet Rhys’ gaze. “ _ Prove it _ , sweetheart.”

“I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you? Don’t play with me, Jack. I will lock you up and hold you here until this whole bandit situation is dealt with and then strip you down piece by piece,  _ personally _ , until I find it...”

“Ooh, don’t threaten me with a good time, baby,” Jack shot back confidently as he winked at the other man. Neither had realized just how close they had gotten, each trying to assert their dominance over the other. Rhys had opened his mouth to speak when he heard what sounded like someone clearing their throat. Both men dropped their eyes from one another and looked over towards the source of the noise.

“Oh shit…”

The bandits had found their way up to level two and undoubtedly found their way to Jack and Rhys due to all the yelling. They had filled into the room while they were bickering and had them completely surrounded. Sneaky little fuckers when they weren’t screaming obscenities at you. Jack gritted his teeth as his eyes scanned the room, taking in how many there were. He turned, his back pressing against Rhys’ a bit as the bandits stepped towards the two men. Rhys’ lips were pressed into a hard line as he did the same, his echo eye counting them much faster than Jack was able to. This was going to be a fight that he couldn’t do alone. He jumped a little as he felt Jack pressing against his back and glanced up at him. He could see the look of concern on Jack’s face as well and it made him feel a bit better. At least he knew he wasn’t being overdramatic about their situation.

“So, uh, hey Atlas?” Jack spoke softly, his head turned towards Rhys a bit. “Whaddaya say we work together, just this once, so we could possibly make it out of his alive?”

Rhys growled a little at the offer, hating to admit that Jack was right. They needed each other in this moment. Begrudgingly, Rhys reached into his waistcoat and pulled out another gun, not the same as the one he was using, but one of the ones Jack had fawned over earlier back on Hyperion and handed it to him. As Jack went to take it, Rhys yanked on it, pulling Jack’s eyes to his. Jack blinked a little as he stared down at Rhys and let out a sigh before nodding. They had made a silent agreement not to just kill one another instead.

“Just this once, Hyperion."

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see. Talk to me about that  _ after _ we get ourselves out of this one. I have been told I can actually grow on people.”

“So does fungus, Jack. Doesn’t mean I want it.

“Ouch, way harsh, kiddo.”

“Just shut up and aim the damn gun!”

Jack cackled, that famous shit-eating grin spreading across his face as he purposefully leaned back harder against Rhys, his arm raising up as he aimed at the bandits. 

“ _ Geez _ , so bossy. Whatever you say, Atlas.”

Rhys followed his lead, doing the same, his arm sweeping across the length of his side of the bandit circle, a stern but slightly amused look on his face. At least Handsome Jack could make shitty situations a bit fun. Not that Rhys was ever going to admit it to him, whether they made it out of this dead or alive.

 

 

God, he hoped they made it out of this alive. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, if you're interested in joining this lil project feel free to drop me a DM on twitter (@_loki_dokey). We have people down til chapter ten but who knows where this story will go and how long it will last?


	4. Desperate Measures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another incredible chapter has been written by Aurum_Auri (@AurumAuri14 on Twitter). And some brilliant artwork by Bee (@Leem0nade on Twitter). Please go follow them and show them some love! 
> 
> We are so pleased that you're all enjoying this fic so far. It's a blast putting it all together for you. The next chapter will be up in two weeks! :3

Two years ago, Atlas had another CEO. Balding, prickly-faced, and with watery, pale eyes, Johannason was a figurehead of everything wrong with Atlas. Under his control, Atlas bled. 

Everything that had once made Atlas powerful, it had seemed to evaporate under his hesitating control. It was meek, and it was alarming. His five years of control showed a steady decline in power. Their market share dropped alarmingly, faltering in all aspects of their business. 

Suddenly it wasn’t just weapons they were losing ground in, it was everything. Rhys could only watch from the sidelines as a sickly sweet smile and a trembling handshake brought Atlas closer and closer to its imminent doom by the day. 

“When Johannason retires.” Rhys swore to himself, things would change. Everything would change. And as the calendar shed weeks and months, the company lost its edge. 

Atlas was a shadow of its former self. 

Rhys drummed his fingers on his desk, reading the report with a slight frown. “These can’t be right,” he murmured. He glanced up at his secretary. “Are these the figures of our weapon sales for the last two months?”

The secretary, Alice, wore her anxiety like a deer in the headlights-- all wide eyes and frozen, knock-kneed terror. “Yes, sir, it’s the latest report from the sales division.”

Rhys raked his hands through his hair. It was worse than he thought. Weapons were Atlas’s bread and butter, so to speak. It was a cold, cruel universe out there. Far be it for Rhys to argue with those who wanted cold steel to feel safer at night. He knew that better than most. But to see the sales dropping so sharply…

“Can you get R&D on the line, and ask them where the new model is? They were supposed to have that pushed out last week. I thought it would be on my desk days ago” Rhys said.

Alice hurried off to make the call. Rhys groaned under his breath. “Please don’t say their budget was slashed again, please, please,” he muttered to himself. Alice came back around, looking sheepish. 

“They say Mr. Johannason cut their budget, and they’re struggling to meet the deadline.”

“Of course,” Rhys groaned. His head hit his desk with a resounding  _ thunk.  _

For three years, Rhys had been second in line to the position of CEO. Atlas ran their company in a delicate hierarchy of individuals, with a line of succession poised to shuffle advancement on down should a position be vacated along the line. Rhys had worked hard to get where he was. And yet, all his work seemed to evaporate like gas into the air the moment Johannason touched it

Rhys felt his head hit the desk hard. The board supported Rhys, his efforts and his accomplishments through the years. All the hard-fought progress Rhys had made… Despite it all, Atlas was drowning, and it felt like no one cared enough to bring it back. No one had the power to save the sinking ship. A titan was falling under the weight of an entire planet, and Johannason wasn’t strong enough to bear the brunt of it alone. 

“It can’t go on like this,” Rhys whispered.

Alice stepped close, setting a cup of coffee on his desk with a small, timid smile. “Sir, you can’t give up hope.” She looked at the photograph on the desk, and Rhys followed her eyes to the frame. How many years it had been, since Pandora had been taken. Rhys’s family, their home. Everything they’d once known.

It must be gone, now. Dahl, Hyperion. They’d all taken bites out of the pie until there was nothing but crumbs. Atlas had been a presence once, the early bird getting the worm, but that was long gone. They didn’t have a presence outside of Promethea anymore. Everything was gone. Rhys could barely see the bones of what once was. 

There was a time when Atlas was strong. There was a time when Atlas gave people hope. Atlas once carried the galaxy on its shoulders. “I can’t give up hope,” Rhys echoed. Something needed to be done. 

He waited until Alice left, and then pulled open the drawer in his desk, popping up the fake bottom to reveal a couple of transcribed echos. The text had been highlighted by an enthusiastic hand, drawing attention to the most important bits.

Not every company had the same neat, tidy system of succession that Atlas had. Rhys trailed his fingers down the lines of text, thoughtful, silent, his touch as light as a lover’s. The paper was worn thin by now.  _ New Hyperion CEO _ , the headlines declared. A position taken by force. 

Handsome Jack was a renegade and maverick, and he was stunning in a way few humans ever could be. In another life, Rhys would have fallen at the man’s feet, worshipping him like a god. Few had the willpower and the ability to seize a company with their bare hands and mold it into something larger and more powerful than anyone had seen before. Rhys wanted that. 

They said meeting Jack was like seeing your life flash before your eyes. Nothing could compare to that moment, like a kind of visceral awakening right before you were sucked out of an airlock. It was inspirational, in a way, the kind of awe and terror he could instill in people. 

Rhys wanted more than that, though. And as long as Johannasson was in charge, Rhys had no hope of showing the world there was. 

He stood slowly. R&D started six floors down from his office, and the elevator was quiet as it slid down to one of the weapon development floors. It seemed like so long ago that he’d been just another code monkey plugging commands into a computer. A few lucky breaks was all it took to get here. 

“I’m sorry, sir,” was all they could say, “there’s nothing more we can do. Our entire timeline was suspended with the latest budget cut.” 

Budget cuts, evaporating tax shelters, shoddy investments, and a poor research budget allocation. Rhys picked up a sniper rifle from its foam bedding, studying the imprint in the casing where the pearl inlay would go when the final piece was finished. Atlas had once stood on top of the world. Now they could barely keep the world on their shoulders. 

“We have something we’ve been working on for a while, actually,” one of the scientists said quietly. Rhys turned around, surprised to hear the words. “It’s still a prototype, but… it’s just about finished…”

Rhys held the slim pistol in his hands. It had a slight recoil, but damn did it feel good. When he fired, he could feel it— he knew what he had to do to save this company. 

Not every company ran like Hyperion. Not everyone could seize control through blood and death. Most employees couldn’t make the jump from programmer to CEO overnight. But… Rhys ran his fingers over the gun. It was a thought, to be sure. 

“Let me know when it’s done,” Rhys said. The scientists smiled at him. “You’re doing great work, all of you. Let me know if Johannason is being too hard on your budgets. I’ll try and make it work.”

“Thank you, Mr. Strongfork,” the scientists said, like Rhys held salvation in his hands. 

Two weeks later, Rhys got the email he’d been dreading. He bowed his head and readied himself to go to Johannason’s office. It was just a talk, and this, this was just a failsafe. 

He passed the secretary with a shallow nod. He paused outside the door, and then stepped through with a breath. “Mr. Johannason. Can we talk?”

“Of course, of course!” Mr. Johannason said. His stubbled jaw had the look of an old man who’d done a shoddy job shaving, and his smile didn’t reach his eyes. Everything about him set Rhys on edge. “What’s the matter, Rhys, my boy?”

“Why did you cut R&D’s budget again? We’re dead in the water compared to Hyperion and Maliwan. We need to be adding product lines, not cutting them.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Johannason said. He sat back, all weedy smiles and smug superiority. He had a mustard stain on the breast of his tweed suit, and Rhys fought the urge to frown in disgust. “You see, I’ve been in this business for a long time. Atlas is waning, yes, but in time, it will come back. There’s no use throwing money into an open furnace trying to speed up what’s inevitable.”

Rhys remembered the documents. “Atlas isn’t waning. It’s on a collision course. Have you seen Hyperion stock? The last few years, they’ve completely eclipsed the rest of the market share of the outer planets. They’ve chased out Dahl from Pandora. Our days are numbered _ , sir _ ,” Rhys added. His lip curled. 

“You worry too much,” Johansson said, waving his hand. “And anyway, that’s not for you to worry about for another few years. Atlas will last that long.”

“In a few years, Atlas will be tattered scraps.”

“And I’ll be sitting on a beach on Eden-5, sipping a margarita. You like hard work,” Johannason said. He smiled, so painfully smug that Rhys saw red. “I’ll leave you to it. Dismissed.”

Rhys stood there, shaking. A slap on the face. That was what this was, plain and simple. He reached into the back of his waistband, feeling the heavy weight of cold steel in his fingers. He held the gun up. The metal hand at his side didn’t tremble, but the flesh one did. 

Johannason went pale. “R-Rhys- what are you- put that down, that’s not a toy-”

Rhys pulled the trigger. He was hit in the cheek by a spatter of blood. Most fanned out in a gruesome halo around Mr. Johannason’s now-eviscerated head. He stumbled to the trashcan and emptied his stomach. The rising scent of copper redoubled the sick feeling inside him. 

The puddle spread almost all the way to his skagskin boots. 

He staggered to his feet, fumbling for a tissue to clean his mouth. He stepped back to keep the soles of his shoes clean. In the chair behind the desk, Johannason was perfectly motionless. It was sickening, absolutely revolting. Rhys was a monster. 

He stumbled out of the room, and the secretary let out a little scream when she saw the blood. Rhys coughed. “I think you should take the rest of the day off. And please, get a janitor up here, if you could.”

God, he’d just killed someone. Killed Johannason. His mind throbbed and sang a thousand dizzying emotions at once. The body looked so cold and still, but from the way blood was still running over the floor, Rhys was certain that it would still be warm if he touched it. The secretary went pale as she fled. Rhys had never felt so powerful in his life. 

And now, Atlas was his, through blood and death. He tried not to think to hard about it. 

 

* * *

 

**Present Day**

The bandits pressed in from all sides, leering and spitting outrageous comments from behind their masks. One let out a feral scream, and Jack fired off a shot, watching the thing’s head explode. Oh,  _ yes.  _

The action on the gun was just as gorgeous as it had looked in the labs. Not that he’d ever admit that to Atlas, the fluid way the next round slid into the chamber. Automatic. Sexy.

Behind him, Jack could hear the deafening roar of the other gun, smell the metallic-sweet tang of gunpowder filling the air. He let out a booming cackle, barely able to hold it back. God, his blood was  _ singing _ , and the screams and smell of death filled the air. 

Atlas fired shot after shot with deadly precision. Every single report of the gun was met with the sound of bullets puncturing flesh, punching holes in the bandits that surged ever closer. 

That damned kid knew his way around a gun, Jack was forced to admit that much. The smell of hot metal and the sound of a gunfire hailstorm sent Jack’s blood racing faster and harder. His body twisted as he fired round after round, reloading the clip with a sure hand.

The kid was all leg and arm, and the way he held himself in a firefight made him look even leggier than before. If he wasn’t the biggest pain in Jack’s ass right now, he’d make great eye candy. 

“Gonna keep staring at my ass, Jack, or are you going to keep shooting?” Rhys yelled. Jack could smell the foul breath of a psycho drawing close, and he whirled, pulling the trigger with a buzz axe inches from his face. The psycho crumpled. He fired two more rounds to make certain the murderous psycho was dead, the last one clicking hollowly. 

“Ammo, Atlas?” Jack said. 

“What, magazine empty already?” Rhys grunted, kicking out at another bandit. “I thought you Hyperion guys were all about accuracy over numbers. Or were your tiny magazines just for show?”

“Cute, princess. But things only die when you hit them. Accuracy counts.”

Rhys tossed back another clip of ammo, and Jack slotted it into place with a satisfying click. He glowered as the bandits seemed to only grow in numbers. Whatever they wanted, whyever it was they attacked, they seemed to think it was in this room. Wrong or right, they were lining up like bloodthirsty lemmings to be gunned down, and Jack was more than happy to do the honors. 

“I swear to god, if I find out you caused this after all-“ Rhys hissed, barely dodging a wild swing of a crude metal pipe. 

“I already told you, you freaking  _ wish _ I caused this. But these psychopaths don’t need me to attack you. You do that all by- argh!” Jack stumbled as a bullet grazed the floor near his feet, ricocheting up. “-yourself, with your shiny metal buildings. Like a frikken’ beacon saying ‘hello, world, come murder me in my sleep’ or something.”

“What the hell would you know about bandits, up in your shiny space ‘H’?” Rhys spat. 

“More than you’ll ever know!” Jack said. He roared as he almost lost an arm to a bruiser, taking aim between the eyes and unloading far too many bullets into that thick skull. The body dropped to the ground with a heavy thud, and Jack kicked it across the floor, knocking a couple marauders to the ground. “You’ll never know Pandora the way I do!”

“Bitch, who do you think is keeping their economy stable while you suck them dry and kill them off?” Rhys said. 

“Because it’s such a good, strong economy,” Jack scoffed. “Built on the backs of cannibals and serial killers. Just booming!” Jack bellowed. He shoved the almost-empty gun into his waistband and grabbed the nearest bludgeoning object off the ground. 

It looked like a crude metal pipe with a knife welded to the end, a bit like a polearm. He cracked it down hard over a marauder’s head, whirling around with a ferocious scream as he drove the blade into the soft, fleshy stomach of a psycho. 

He could feel Rhys watching him, studying him, like some kind of grad student watching a delicate experiment being performed, just with more blood spraying over the floors and a heavy dose of gunpowder in the air. “We’ll see when I’m through with it,” Rhys said. 

Jack scoffed loudly. It was suddenly silent when the last body hit the floor. The endless tide of bandits seemed stemmed for now, at least as far as this room was concerned. Rhys slammed one of the doors shut, blocking the way to keep any other bandits from getting in. 

“What’s the situation like in the rest of the facility?” Rhys said urgently, and Jack realized he was talking on his Echo instead of to Jack. Not content to be ignored, Jack did a circle of the room, hopping over corpses and not even being remotely discrete as he finished frisking the lab. He had his data, his real prize. Anything else would be the icing on the cake to piss Atlas off. 

He made a show of picking up a stack of bloodstained papers before Atlas finally looked at him, storming over and ripping them from his hands. “I’ll call you back,” Rhys growled into the Echo. 

Jack grinned. “Starting to see why I keep my offices off this planet, Atlas? Fewer bandits to deal with.”

Rhys reached into his jacket and pulled out the contracts, grinding his teeth. He slammed the papers onto a nearby table, almost landing them in a puddle of blood. “Sign the contract. For real this time, or we’re going to have a problem.”

“Did you like the little trick I did? What did your face look like? Was it like,” Jack started, twisting his face into shock and awe, “he’s so cool, he totally got me! Or was it more like,” and then Jack twisted his features into a fake scowl, “that Handsome Jack is just too smart for me, I should have known better.”

Rhys raised his gun, narrowing his gaze. The echo eye flickered with a certain menace. “Sign it, or you’ll be a  _ handsome corpse  _ when I’m through with you.”

“Man, you are really  _ no fun,  _ aren’t you? Got a pen, there, Atlas, or do you want me to use my finger and some of this blood? ‘Cause I’m not opposed, but speaking from experience, people tend to dislike when a contract is signed in blood, and I’m gonna need a notary here to make this official if you really want to-”

“If I give you a pen, will you stop talking?” Rhys said, grinding his teeth. He was one of those people who were terrible at looking angry, because instead of looking scary, he seemed to just sulk and pout. 

Jack snorted. “Yeah, cupcake, just gimme.” 

Rhys huffed impatiently and started digging in his pockets for a pen. Jack grinned. His fingers itched, twitched, watching for Rhys’s attention to slip. Rhys made an annoyed little sound and his gaze moved off Jack. The perfect moment for Jack to strike. He lifted the gun casually, his grin pulling at the corners of his lips. 

_ BANG.  _ From this close, the gunshot was deafening to them both, but when Rhys fell back, it wasn’t just from shock. The metal arm was sparking and glitching. He looked up at Jack. He was wearing an expression between shock, fury, and a sulky little pout, and damn it was adorable, in the ‘defenseless puppy that tried to play with the big dogs’ kind of way. Jack snatched Rhys’s gun up off the ground, dancing out of reach of the wildly spasming cybernetic arm. 

“Man, Atlas tech still has the same old flaws as always, doesn’t it? I’d say it was nice meeting you, but, nah,” Jack added with a wink. He waved the gun in the air, dodging another lashing, clawing attempt to hit him. “See ya, kid.” He jumped the table and sprinted out, dodging a bandit that had missed the slaughter earlier and kicking him towards the Atlas CEO in the other room. 

He could hear Rhys screaming in fury as he made a break for it, cackling like an asshole. Rhys was following behind at a dead sprint, but Jack closed a door behind himself and wedged it shut with a few choice pieces of equipment. 

There were loud thuds as Rhys tried to get the door opened, but with that cybernetic arm temporarily out of commission, Jack was safe, at least for now. 

This had not been what he had expected when he first landed his ship on this wasteland of a planet. But the gears were already turning, new plans were forming. Atlas was cocky. Something would have to be done, and Jack’s suspicions about their plans were only growing with every minute he was planetside. 

Atlas was up to something. What that meant for the future remained to be seen.


	5. In the System

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter has arrived! The plot slowly reveals itself with each new writer which, in my opinion, is what makes being a part of this collaboration super exciting. No one knows where the new writer will take the story next! I'm on the edge of my seat to see where it goes from the end of @Neyla9's incredible chapter. With art from @PetiteRusk, it makes for a perfect edition to Collusion.
> 
> Remember, scroll across when you reach the image if you're reading on your phone to see the full piece.
> 
> As always, enjoy!

The entire day had just been one infuriating event after another. Rhys had expected that Jack would have been difficult to deal with, had expected he would be a major asshole, but the bandit attack that just so happened to be timed perfectly for Jack to escape? Rhys still thought that was just a bit too convenient. It took almost five hours before things returned to somewhat normalcy; the employees were coaxed out of the panic rooms, the projects were returned to their respective departments, and an inventory list was made to find out what had been lost. Rhys had decided to treat himself to an Affogato al Caffè; he needed at least something nice today, and it wasn’t like he could just go home and lounge around in his pajamas while his company was recovering from a bandit attack. That was probably something Jack would do. The inventory list had been finished, and Rhys was listening to the content while enjoying his caffeinated ice cream treat.

“So, aside from the minor damage to the Lamia Rifle prototype,” Alice summarized from the list on her pad. “The Achilles gun was destroyed, and…” she swiped her finger to scroll to the bottom. “Yes, we still haven’t found the Achlys Chip.”

“Seriously?” Rhys groaned and took another sip of his coffee; the ice cream was almost completely melted now. “I know it’s small, but  _ someone  _ must have kept an eye on it!”

“It was most likely forgotten in the chaos of it all,” Alice shrugged and put the pad away.

“I get that, but it should have turned up by now. Bandits wouldn’t care about it; they would have stolen guns, not a small chip. And Jack…” Rhys paused before realization hit him. “ _ Fuck! _ ”

“Sir?” Alice tilted her head in a worried gesture.

“Contact Hyperion- No wait, don’t!” Rhys amended. “Arrange a shuttle; I’m leaving with a security force as soon as possible.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?”

“Handsome Jack’s not gonna listen to some no-name representative. But I can make sure he’ll listen to me. And if he doesn’t… it’s not really gonna matter for long.”

“Yes sir,” Alice nodded and left his office.

Rhys downed the last of Affogato before heading to the coffee machine; he was gonna need something stronger if Jack really had taken the Achlys Chip.

In the chaos of the bandit attack, he had forgotten all about Jack’s obvious theft - the guy had left the planet without being checked. His confidence over them not finding anything could have easily been a ruse, or maybe he had just not hidden the chip in an obvious place like his numerous pockets; all he would need was something like a fake fingernail to keep the chip hidden during a body search.

The Achlys Chip had been one of Atlas’ biggest failures during Rhys’ presidency but it still had the potential to be a great asset. The original purpose of the chip was a sort of improved heat-seeking bullet, but for guns instead of people. The idea was that your gun would be fitted with the Achlys Chip, automatically target your opponent’s gun, you fired, the bullet hits the gun and neutralizes it. But of course, the programming of the chip hadn’t gone quite so smoothly.

What should have been a focused weapon that activated when you fired your gun, instead became a volatile virus, and one that rapidly spread through the seemingly weakest of signals; in less than fifteen minutes, it had taken over nearly one fifth of Atlas, before all power had been shut off, successfully stopping the virus from spreading. The employee in charge of the programming had been swiftly fired, all infected equipment destroyed except for the small chip it now inhabited. R&D was hoping they could figure out what had gone wrong and fix it, but it was proving hard due to the sheer contagiousness of the virus.

If Hyperion had the chip now, either Helios was doomed, or the rest of the Galaxy would be. The virus would either tear its way through the space station, with no one the wiser until it was already too late, or Hyperion would figure out what the virus was, and inevitably weaponized it.

 

*

 

Jack was in a pretty good mood, and why shouldn’t he be? His little trip down to that backwater ditch of a planet had been more productive than expected. He’d managed to ruffle that baby-faced CEO of theirs, made sure he learned firsthand that you don’t mess with Handsome Jack, and had even walked out of there with Atlas property.  He leaned back in his chair, enjoying the full force of the endorphin rush; those injectors were probably the best investment he’d ever made.

Now all he had to do was wait for his little worker bees in R&D to figure out what that chip contained.

His high was temporarily interrupted when he heard the buzz from his intercom. With an overdramatic sigh that no one else could hear, he moved to answer the com.

“Meg, unless R&D suddenly discovered the secrets of time travel, I doubt they’ll have figured anything substantial out yet,” Jack complained, his tone already snippy.

“That’s not it, sir,” Meg replied, delivered in a way that made it clear she wasn’t in the mood for any bullshit either. “A shuttle from Atlas is making its way to the station. We’ve tried to establish contact, but they’re ignoring our calls.”

A smile spread across Jack’s face.

“Oh, really?” he asked, barely containing his enthusiasm. “Let them land, but make sure we have some security personnel to greet them - Oh, and, if Rhysie happens to be there, have him sent to my office immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

This was absolutely perfect! Atlas had caught on quicker than he thought, but no matter; at least he’d be able to laugh and gloat in the little wannabe CEO’s face, and really get it drilled into his head that no, he wasn’t ready to play with the big boys yet.

Jack was practically giddy when Rhys was escorted into his office (not outwardly of course; he had an image to maintain). Jack dismissed the security guards who had brought him there and gestured for Rhys to take a seat in the chair across from him. Rhys stared at the chair with a raised eyebrow before turning his gaze to Jack.

“It’s a chair, sweetheart,” Jack said with a smirk and an eye roll. “It’s not gonna kill you.” The fact the chair had metal cuffs in the armrests - and that it was designed to drop people through the trap door in front - went unmentioned.

Rhys reluctantly sat down in the chair, placing his hands in his lap in favor of the armrests though.

“So,” Jack’s smile widened, already anticipating all the gloating he would do, as well as Rhys’ saltiness over the situation; the guy’s face already looked pissy, and he had barely been there a minute. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“You already know that,  _ Jack _ ,” Rhys responded with a glare.

“Uh, lemme think,” Jack made a show of pretending to think, tapping a finger on the chin to really sell it. “Oh right; that dumb little chip your employees left behind! Tsk, tsk, sloppy work, Atlas.”

“Look, this doesn’t need to be a big thing,” Rhys rationalized. “As long as you haven’t tried decrypting it, no harm’s been done. You can return it, nice and easy, and we’ll pretend like this whole affair never happened.”

Jack let out a snort of surprise. “Did you really think that little speech would convince me? Why would I give it back to you? Oh no, cupcake, consider this payback for your little stunt with the Eridium mine.”

“We both know you would have stolen that chip regardless.”

Their conversation reached a temporary standstill; for a few moments, the two men didn’t say a word, merely observed one another. Rhys was the one who broke the silence.

“Just… please tell me now if you’ve been trying to decrypt it,” he sighed, rubbing his forehead with the metal arm.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Jack laughed in response. “Why? What’s on it that you want to get it back so badly?”

“I can’t say it until I know what you’ve done with!” Rhys raised his voice in frustration before clearing his throat and lowering it again. “Let’s just say that the chip has very nasty… anti decryption program attached to it, to prevent tampering. And depending on what precautions your employees took before jamming it into the computer, the effects could be… catastrophic.”

“Gotta be some good stuff on there to have that kind of firewall,” Jack chuckled. “Don’t worry, Princess, unlike Atlas, Hyperion has the best kinda software when it comes to protecting our technology; your little bug won’t hurt us.”

“That’s it?” Rhys blinked at Jack in disbelief and rose from his chair. “Some antivirus? The computers are still connected to the server?  _ To the Echonet? _ ”

“Yeah,” Jack nodded, seemingly unphased by the conversation. “Oh, and, you don’t have to tell me what’s on the chip; my guys down in R&D are gonna have the answers in about two hours anyway.”

Rhys slumped back into his seat, rubbed his temples for a moment, before taking a deep breath. “Jack,” he began, trying to sound as calm as possible. “You have to really listen to what I’m about to tell you: The chip you stole from Atlas is called the Achlys Chip. It contains a dangerous, hard-to-trace, prolific virus. It nearly destroyed a fifth of Atlas, and could now potentially take down not just Helios, but spread through the Echonet, at which point it would be unstoppable.”

“Huh, didn’t think Atlas would create something so… aggressive? No, what’s the word I’m looking for? Badass! Yeah, that was it,” Jack nodded to himself. “So, forgive me if I’m calling bullshit on this whole “doom and gloom” story of yours.”

“Okay, then let me ask you this: why would I walk into the lion’s den if I wasn’t serious?”

“Let  _ me _ ask  _ you _ this: if there’s _really_ a virus loose on my space station, capable of getting through all of Hyperion’s firewalls, why would you show up with your fancy echo-eye?”

“Because my arm and eye contain the closest thing Atlas has to an antivirus that works against this thing. It’s basically a prevention software; it protects the electronics from getting infected but does nothing if the virus is already there. We used the same software to safely work on the chip.”

“Aha, sure,” Jack just nodded with a patronizing smirk on his face. “But, uh, in your little story, princess, you forgot one thing; you still haven’t told me what this supposed virus does. Is it gonna leak Hyperion search history to Atlas?”

“Well, when it infected Atlas, it began with screwing with our doors; shutting them in people’s faces, opening them just to shut them again. It was annoying, but then… it turned off the protective shields. A group of security personnel went outside to check what was wrong. An alpha skag showed up. When the emergency turrets activated to take out the skag, the virus deactivated them, then reactivated them and made them shoot security, and then shot the skag’s legs before deactivating again. About two minutes later, the virus reactivated the turrets again and finished off the skag, and then the turrets kept spinning around until we finally cut the power.”

Jack let out a loud laugh. “That sounds hilarious! Oh, I wish I could’ve seen that!”

“Considering this place is stuffed with turrets, you probably will,” Rhys sighed, resting an elbow on the armrest. “Unless, of course, the virus cuts off your video feed, which would probably be the biggest tragedy to you.”

“So, let’s say your story is true. How come nothing has happened yet?”

“It took a while before the virus made itself known the first time around. Don’t know why; maybe it has something to do with how far it has spread? I don’t know, I’m shooting in the dark here.”

“Well, in a bit, the guys down in R&D will have the info I want, so,” Jack rose from his chair and walked over to a desk with an old coffee machine and liquor cabinet. “How about we wait it out? You want a drink? Coffee or something stronger?” he asked while pouring himself a glass of scotch.

Rhys rolled his eyes and placed his arms on the chair’s armrests, leaning back and trying to fight back the oncoming headache, when suddenly a pair of metal cuffs appeared from the armrests and wrapped around his wrists, locking him into place.

“Jack?” Rhys called out to the man who had his back turned.

The Hyperion CEO turned around and frowned in surprise at the sight.

“Wait, I didn’t do that,” he said as the trapdoor by the chair opened up. The chair began tipping slightly forward and back again, in a manner that looked almost like a threat, as the telltale sound of a message came from Jack’s computer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! What will happen next??? 
> 
> The new chapter will be out in the next two weeks. 
> 
> If you want to be a part of the collaboration, DM me on twitter (@_loki_dokey) and let me know! x


	6. Leverage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello! We are getting gritty now with juicy plot; this chapter is really something to sink your teeth into. 
> 
> Please thank the very talented @ToastyDehmer (AO3) for this chapter and @FrankenFunhouse (Twitter) for the amazing artwork :3

Intuition was one hell of a thing and it hit Rhys with an epiphany the moment Jack’s confused admission left him, brown and yellow eyes widening in growing horror and irritation. Rhys growled and glared at Jack’s back, watching the other man slowly turn to stare at the wavering chair.

“If it took such a short time for it to happen then your R&D scientists are really stupid. Exceptionally so.”

“Shit-” the chair lurched back before jerking back upright and Jack hopped over to his computer. He wouldn’t be able to do anything in time, not if it was in Jack's personal systems already. Rhys didn’t hesitate in firing up his ECHOeye and working on the chair itself, targeting it with his own systems.

The sensation of teetering on the brink of a far, far fall down urged Rhys to work as fast as he possibly could. Unlike Jack, he didn’t have a need to type into a keyboard or manually click through anything. Rhys need only think of something and it was there. Long story short, Rhys was much faster than Jack. But he was stuck.

There was one last security wall he couldn’t find a way past or through. Not even to start breaking it down. It was probably one of the few things the virus had yet to start chewing through.

Again the chair tipped back, further this time. Jack cursed from where he was typing away, fingers clacking against the keyboard with each slam of the keys.

“I can’t get through this- every time I get rid of one bit, three more come back! It’s like some sort of friggin hydra!”

_ ‘What part of ‘prolific’ didn’t you get!’ _ Rhys wanted to scream back.  Instead, what he bit out was, “Last firewall, I need an access code!”

“What!?” Jack looked up from his computer, eyes nothing but pinpricks of rage. “How the hell did you get through everything else so fast!”

“ _ Code now, questions later! _ You need me to save your station, Jack!”

“Argh- fine!” The chair was starting to do another slow roll back and Rhys wasn’t sure it would rock forward this time around. “K-N-G-D-M!”

The last letter went in and Rhys accessed the chair controls, cuffs coming off just as the chair began to fall. Rhys didn’t stop before lurching forward, aiming to jump off and to safety. For the most part, Rhys succeeded. For the most part. His middle hit the edge and his hands scraped at the floor as he began to slide back down, flesh and metal fingers alike fruitlessly searching for any purchase. Titanium alloy fingertips caught and barely held on to the edge of the trapdoor Rhys precariously dangled from. An ominous whirr reached his ears and Rhys chanced a look down.

“JACK! GET ME OUT OF HERE BEFORE YOUR STUPID DEATH CHUTE KILLS ANY CHANCE YOU HAVE OF FIXING THIS!”

There was a spinning razor-edged blade only a few scant inches from the tips of his skagskin boots. Much too close for comfort. Rhys looked back up and tried to pull himself up. It was no use. His other hand kept slipping and the strain of pulling his body was starting to become too much for his body to take. At this rate, the anchors in his collarbone and shoulder blade would snap before he could even try to get any leverage.

“JACK- ergh!” Suddenly, he was being hauled up by the back of his suit, the front of his shirt digging into his neck. Rhys looked up. Jack was lifting him as best as he could, jaw grit, teeth bared in his efforts. Slowly but surely Rhys was getting out of the chute. Little by little he was coming closer and closer to being able to slip out. Just a little further-

Rhys lifted a leg back and used the bit of leverage to kick himself out the rest of the way. Jack yelped and fell back when Rhys’ weight suddenly shot forward. Rhys landed on Jack’s lower half, the older man wheezing when Rhys’ chin landed hard right on Jack’s soft stomach.

“Get off me before I shoot your dumb face, kiddo,” Jack ground out.

“Gladly,” Rhys snarked right back, sitting up. He added almost as an afterthought, “And don’t call me ‘kiddo’.”

Rhys glared at Jack as the Hyperion King stood up with Rhys, two pairs of mismatched eyes balefully glaring back and forth at each other.

This...was ridiculous. Rhys scoffed, rolled his eyes, and went to bypass Jack. The longer they stood there doing nothing, the further the virus would spread. Rhys wasn’t lying about the threat the virus posed. It was Jack’s own fault for stealing the Achylls Chip and Hyperion could be blamed for the fallout if Rhys’ actions didn’t work. Jack would be stupid to admit to the theft but if the information was revealed regardless of that fact, if it came to light that  _ Atlas _ created the virus? It would be goodbye profits, hello bankruptcy for the Atlas Corporation and Rhys had worked too long to bring his baby back to life for it to all fall to pieces right before his very eyes.

So when Jack whirled on a heel, caught the sleeve of Rhys’ expensive black suit with a glowering snarl, and growled, “And what do you think a peon like you is going to do?” Rhys only had one response.

“Fix your mess.” Rhys ripped his arm out of Jack’s hold and stalked to Jack’s computer, Jack hot on his heels.

“Excuse me!?”

“Oh I’m sorry, are you going senile or are you just hard of hearing?” Rhys couldn’t help the snark and the sass. He was done with Jack’s act. The Hyperion asshole wanted to be top of the totem-pole so badly he couldn’t stand being treated as if he were in any other spot, that much Rhys knew. He also know that now would probably be one of the few times he could get away with it relatively unscathed. Keyword, ‘relatively’. Rhys expected some sort of backlash and he found it in the form of Jack whipping Rhys around and pinning him down on Jack’s desk, the tip of his pistol’s barrel harshly digging into the soft underside of Rhys’ chin.

“Keep mouthing off and you won’t have the brains to be a sassy piece of shit,” Jack lowly threatened. His voice was an even keel but Rhys knew he was close to snapping. Rhys grinned.

“Kill me and you lose your only chance at keeping Hyperion from being my scapegoat.” The gun was shoved harder, with a growl, and Rhys snickered. “Go ahead. I mean, it’s not like my arm is holding the only piece of programming capable of fixing all this.”

“Then I kill you and take the arm.”

“One, you wouldn’t have the time. We’re running on borrowed time and any minute that could change. Two, I die before I can properly get the arm off using my own codes and the arm wipes all data from its storage. And we both know I’d die before willingly handing over something chock full of confidential Atlas intel.”

Jack growled. The trap door Rhys almost fell to his death through began to snap open and closed. Rhys couldn’t have timed it better. The Atlas CEO watched the indecision spring back and forth in Jack’s skull through his eyes, blue and green slipping between the malfunctioning trap door, Rhys, and Jack’s computer. A decision was reached in less than a minute.

Rhys’ head hit the desk with the shove Jack gave before he stepped back. Rhys hissed as he stood and gently prodded at the tender spot on the back of his head. Another hiss and he glared down the line of Jack’s gun at Jack himself. The other man dispassionately stared back, resigned if Rhys ever saw it on Jack.

Jack nudged the gun towards his computer with a glance to it.

“Well, get to work. The sooner you get it done, the sooner I can get rid of you.”

Rhys sneered and moved over. As he got to work pulling up the proper windows and files on Jack’s computer, he drawled, “Please. I think we can drop the pretenses. I think it’s obvious you were planning on killing me today regardless of how this ‘meeting’ went.”

He can hear the gears turning in Jack’s head before the older man jovially returns, “What makes you say that,  _ kiddo _ ?”

Willing to play along but insisting he be an antagonistic asshole all the while. Classic Jack style.

Rhys paused long enough to send a momentary glare over his shoulder before resuming his work.

“How about the fact you offered a seat that sat over a trap door? One that could trap me in it and send my down to me death? Yeah, let’s start with that.”

“Sounds like someone thought they were special.” Jack snickered. “Did you really think I would let you live?”

“I’d like to believe Handsome Jack had proper manners but I learned earlier today how much of a lost cause that was.”

“...You really are a one of a kind type of stupid, Atlas.”

“I could say the same about you, Hyperion. Just look at what you caused.” Jack went silent at that and Rhys counted it as a win. Atlas: 1. Hyperion: Zilch. “Tell me you have an ECHO cable in here.”

Jack did indeed and Rhys snatched it out of his hands before the idiot could recklessly jamb it into Rhys’ ECHO port in his temple. Instead he plugged it into his arm. Jack scoffed.

“Stronger connection is directly to the ECHOeye, idiot.”

“The arm itself is what has the protection,  _ idiot _ . I said that not even fifteen minutes ago. How bad  _ is _ your memory that you could forget that important tidbit of info?”

The gunshot rang in the empty silence of Jack’s office. Rhys, for his part, didn’t even jump. A loud sound like a gunshot wasn’t something he was remotely a stranger to. He simply looked at the new hole that was dangerously close to the computer and bitched at Jack from over his shoulder.

“Careful! I’m guessing this is the only computer with full access to  _ all _ of Helios! I need it fully intact, dumbass!”

“Shut up and do your job.”

Rhys grumbled but begrudgingly followed the order but only because he started to see the full extent of the damage Achylls was wreaking.

If he had to put it into relatable terms, it would be this.

The coding and programming behind Helios was like a shining spire of human ingenious, sparkling and glittering with wealth and knowledge. It was sleek and capable of so much, everything taken to the next level and only awaiting to be built further, made into something even more. It was something awesome to see in its full glory. Lines upon lines of text building into something grand. It was a beacon. It was a citadel. It was amazing.  Add Achylls into the mix…

 

Take that gleaming city of metal.

 

Now corrode it.

 

Rain acid upon it.

 

The city was a bubbling, gelatinous mess that was only breaking down more and more by the minute. No longer was it standing tall and proud, it was slouching. Metal was rolling down the sides like water over wax. The pinnacle of technology was rotting from the inside-out and horror became something real as Rhys poured over the leftovers of dwindling solid structure. Status report after status report and nothing good was to be seen.

“Most of Helios is a mess, Jack,” Rhys murmured. “Whoever designed the station was smart enough to have the back up power and skeleton of the station’s programming set up on a different server. It’s- it’s slowing down the virus but not by much.”

“I know.” Annoyed. Impatient. Irritated. “Who do you think oversaw the idiots building my space station? Less yakking, more fixing.”

Rhys knew that once upon a time, it wasn’t Jack’s space station. Rhys kept that information to himself for the time being.

“Why did I think you’d appreciate any sort of update?” Rhys snapped back beneath his breath.

Jack’s office and the few floors below it were the only ones that were the least affected. Rhys guessed it had something to do with whatever protections Jack had set up in his infamous paranoia. And it seemed for good measure. Without it, Rhys had no doubt they’d be like half of the rest of the station.

Emergency protocols had been issued and main power had been shut off. Back up generators were doing their best to keep the necessities going but Rhys knew it was only a matter of time before Achylls ate them up too and ended up turning them off or destroying them some other way. As it stood, sectors B 50-74, D 02-21, and E 66-88 lost life support and the oxygen had been vented. Docking Bays 4-8 lost all power with all the ships and shuttles in four drifting out in space and the turrets in the other three destroying everything else. There were no vital signs in those areas.

R&D was by far the worst though Rhys kept his digital distance. He was indestructible against the virus but not invulnerable. If Rhys were Icarus then his protection was his wings and Achylls was the sun threatening to melt the only thing keeping Rhys safely aloft in the air. Get too close and he’d find himself in a downward spiral.

Rhys began working on containing the biggest area of concern when an issue arose.

The Atlas CEO paused.

“I can try to isolate R&D and that should considerably slow it down,” Rhys updated Jack, voice deceptively calm. “But we’ve got a problem.”

“Oh, what now?” Jack whined. “I don’t care what it is - just fix this, Atlas!”

“There are people still alive down there.”

At least a dozen, maybe more. But the numbers didn’t matter. It was the fact that there were human beings down there who were still alive, workers who didn’t sign up for Jack’s mistakes, who deserved better than having their entire department suddenly cut off from all the resources Helios had. They would lose life support, the ventilation would stop working to bring in fresh oxygen, the power would go out and the back ups were toast. They would be stuck in there. Indefinitely. Turning anything back on would just allow the virus to continue spreading. All the hardware would have to be scrapped manually. But none of that necessarily worried Rhys. They could last the week it would take to get in past the solid doors.

What worried Rhys the most was the creatures he knew were hidden in the depths of those floors. Dangerous monsters that could be fatal with little more than a single touch. If Rhys really took R&D out and off of Helios’ grid, everything keeping those monsters back would vanish.

None of those scientists stood a chance.

Surely Jack had to see that.

“That’s it? What, you think I care about some scientists’ measly little lives?”

Ice crept down Rhys’ spine at Jack’s nonchalant tone. He paused in his work, eyes looking past all the data on his HUD and out at nothing. Jack couldn’t be serious. Even if he didn’t care about their lives, the man should at least see them all as valuable resources. Knowledge was the skeleton key to the world and those scientists had that in spades. Who would be willing to discard something as valuable that?

As Rhys looked over his shoulder at the impatient man behind him, he remembered who exactly he was dealing with.

Right.

Jack didn’t care about people. Common knowledge. He would get those men and women replaced in a heartbeat and not lose a single second of sleep over the death toll. How could Rhys forget?

“Your loss, Hyperion,” Rhys rumbled, turning back and starting on separating R&D.

“Don’t worry your pretty head over it, Rhysie,” Jack purred back.

Rhys never hated Jack more in his life than when Rhys set the systems in R&D to completely shut themselves down, forcibly corralling the virus into a choke point before shutting it inside for good. The Atlas CEO watched the progress with a weighted heart, sending apologies above for what he had been pushed into doing. Theoretically, Rhys could’ve decided not to do it but it would’ve landed with a bullet in his skull and the fall of the entire ECHOnet. It was either or. But...that didn’t have to be the end of it.

Jack had no clue how long it would take Rhys to do everything. For all the older man was aware, it would be an hour, maybe more. In that time, Rhys had Jack’s level of clearance to- to  _ everything _ . He had Helios in the palm of his hands.

And the entirety of Hyperion pinned underneath the heels of his expensive boots.

Rhys grinned and started multi-tasking. There were treasures to pilfer and files upon files to plunder.

“So how long is this supposed to take anyways?” Jack asked after some time. When Rhys spared a glance in his direction, Jack was propped up against the desk with his legs crossed at the ankles, pistol lazily pointed in Rhys’ direction. Rhys watched Jack momentarily flick his attention from Rhys’ face to the computer monitor screen. Suspicion hung onto Jack like a cloak when he saw the blank screen and snapped his eyes back onto Rhys. “Cause from the way you were talking earlier, it sounded like it needed to be done yesterday.”

Rhys silently began to celebrate his coming victory on the inside. Outwardly, he scoffed and turned his attention forward, fiddling with a display only he could see.

“It takes time to apply the program on my arm in a safe way. I can’t just slap it on everything.” Jack slid closer. Rhys watched with wary eyes. He’d step away if he could but the cable patching Rhys into the Helios system was short and connected to his arm. “I have to assess the damage already done and see what is salvageable then protect what hasn’t been touched before working on isolating each head of the Hydra, as you so adequately put it earlier.”

Jack watched Rhys unwaveringly as he came the last bit closer, chests less than a mere foot apart, faces too close for Rhys’ comfort. Rhys was close enough that he could see the minute wear and tear on Jack’s mask, the microscopic scratches and blemishes that spoke of unrelenting use.

The gun was gingerly placed on the desk. A hand came near Rhys’ neck; Rhys unwilling to give any sign of retreat when he was  _ so close. _ Just a little bit more time was all he needed and then- …

Jack loosely wrapped his hand around Rhys’ neck. Was it a promise of a threat? Or the other way around? With Jack, it could easily fall in either category.

Jack’s fingers were cold.

“Now, how come I don’t trust that?”

Rhys may have stared at Jack then and it could’ve been seen as a stare down. In reality, Rhys was watching the last of the progress bar he had set up finally fill completely. Done. He had- he had  _ everything. _ Everything that was labelled with a security clearance of department head and up Rhys had stolen. Not only that but his private, secured server on Promethea had copies as well.

He did it.

Rhys grinned and leaned into Jack’s hand with a salacious grin, eyes peering at Jack with a facade of desire.

“I think we can both agree trust between us is one hell of a mistake.” Rhys drew metal fingers over Jack’s arm, smoothing over and up until he could knead at the shoulder. Jack watched him without faltering, ready to do anything - Rhys could tell that much.

Jack was a wild card and it showed in everything he ever did.

Rhys prepared himself for what he was about to do, creating himself a copy of Jack’s codes and admin status, leaving himself a hole in Helios’ systems, breaking the link between him and Jack’s computer. Something must have shown (that or Jack had decent intuition) because when Rhys lurched forward, Jack brought both hands to Rhys’ neck and started _ squeezing. _ In that same moment, a small needle appeared  from the pointer finger of Rhys’ metal arm and he pricked Jack in the neck with it, ECHO cable popping out when he pulled away from the computer.

Rhys let himself be pushed back down on the desk, hitting it hard, back bending, grinning ear to ear. He counted down in his head, holding on to consciousness as hard as he could as the seconds seems to stretch out into minutes. But it worked.

Jack’s grip weakened until after nearly a full minute had passed it went practically slack.

Rhys coughed when he was finally able to breathe, wheezing laughter leaving him.

“Wh-what the-” Jack stepped back and stared at his hands in confusion, frame shaking until he dropped to the ground with a shout.

Rhys sat up, delicately touching his neck. There would be some nasty bruising there later but holy fucking shit was it ever worth it.

“What the fuck did you do to me, Rhys!?” The outright fury in Jack’s voice was like icing on the cake. Rhys walked over and grabbed Jack by the lapels of his suit jacket before dragging him over to his stupidly oversized tacky joke of a throne.

“Oh, nothing much,” Rhys hoarsely responded in an overly-sweet voice. He hauled Jack up into it, practically throwing him there and sliding the chair into the desk none-too-gently. “Just a mild neurotoxin is all! Limits how much strength something can exert. Only just got around to figuring out the correct dosage for skags. Glad it didn’t leave you dying, suffocating and frothing at the mouth.”

It was a little white lie but what did it matter that they hadn’t exactly moved on to animal trials yet? Rhys had calculated the risks and they were in his favor! It all worked out.

Rhys took out a packet of papers from his jacket, unfolded it, and gently placed it in front of Jack on the desk. The contract laid there innocuously. From Jack’s desk drawers, he drew a pen and placed it in Jack’s hand.

“How about you sign and this time you do it right?”

Jack guffawed, letting his head fall back against the chair and loll to the side in order to send a smug grin Rhys’ way. Rhys returned it.

"You think you’ve got me in a corner, Atlas? You’re pathetic. What makes you think I’d ever willing sign anything for you?”

Rhys dramatically sighed, acting put-out, pouting and looking back out at Pandora through the floor to ceiling windows.

“Darn, you’re right!” He turned and sat on top of Jack’s desk, thigh only a couple inches from the contract. “What was I thinking?”

“I dunno,” Jack snarked back. “Probably nothing with how empty your skull is, idiot.”

Rhys hummed and kept the act going, holding up his cybernetic palm and pulling up a holoscreen from his palm. He sorted through some of the files he attained from Helios, speed reading and looking for keywords using his ECHOeye. He searched through hundreds of files in a matter of seconds, flying through them one after another looking for something, anything. There had to be something he could use to his advantage. It had to be good.

He nearly passed by it.

Oh.

Rhys’ smile turned gleefully vicious.

“Hey Jack?” Jack raised a brow at him as if to ask him why Rhys was wasting his time. Rhys looked right back as he asked, “Who’s Angel?”

[ ](https://ibb.co/xMx8mFt)

Rhys saw the instant Jack froze, all humor leaving his masked features and Rhys delighted in the mix of primal fear and fury he saw swirling in Jack’s eyes.

“Who?”

Rhys said nothing as he turned the screen around to face Jack, files of Angel on it as well as a picture

“Don’t play me for a fool now, Hyperion. It’d be a shame for you to drop the ball this early in the game.” Rhys closed his hand, the screen disappearing, and he crossed one leg over the other. “See, here’s how this is gonna go, Jack. Either you sign the contract or I release all these files to every single competitor you have, all your enemies and allies. I wonder what they’ll do when they learn what you’ve done to a  _ child,  _ your own  _ flesh and blood. _ ”

"You wouldn't dare," Jack snarled. At least he knew when to admit he was cornered. That was practically an admission of guilt! "She's just a girl! You wouldn't bring a kid into this, would you!?"

Rhys leaned forward and only sweetly said, "What comes around goes around."

Jack seethed in silence.

Rhys' win was just on the horizon.

"Since you're aware just where you stand between you and I, I suggest you sign that contract, Jack. I know you can do that much."

Rhys watched Jack's face screw up in utter rage as he lurched forward, sloppy and uncoordinated. His free hand slapped against the desk and the meat of his other palm thudded beside the paper where it landed. It took a minute for Jack to write his name, one entire glorious minute where Rhys felt on top of the world. As soon as Jack finished, Rhys snatched the papers back, folding and stowing them away inside his jacket. He slipped off the desk and made his way for the office doors, opening them with his eye.

"Pleasure doing business, Hyperion," Rhys tossed over his shoulder. "You'll be back to at least being able to stand upright without completely falling over in an hour or so."

The station was saved, the virus stopped and in the process of being taken apart by his program, and Rhys had what he wanted before this whole situation arose. 

Rhys boarded a single-passenger pod, his ship waiting. His crew had smartly departed from the ship bay when the madness began to rear its ugly head and now they were waiting for him. And once aboard, it would be back to Pandora where his new work site awaited him.

_ 'Victory,' _ Rhys noted as the pod neared his Atlas ship,  _ 'is sweet.' _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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> Thanks for reading x We love you for it! x


	7. Off to Call a Jerk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Being a part of the writing/art process for Sai and Saff for this chapter was, to say the least, a wild ride. This fantastically delicious chapter was written by @sai_png_ on twitter and the equally as delicious art was made by @saffytaffy6 on twitter.
> 
> Show them some love in the comments! Remember, if you're on a phone, scroll across when you get to the art to see the full image. 
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> Also, we TOLD you this would eventually get explicit ;)

It was as dull as it always was. 

Jagged sharp cliffs loomed over the cracked dusty ground, casting long stark shadows under the scorching heat of the relentless evening sun. The little vegetation that grew in this wasteland always seemed to be grey and withered and the all-consuming sky never bore a single cloud. The roads were broken, the skags lay dead, and every brown spot littering the ground which wasn’t dirt was most certainly blood. 

Pandora was beautiful. 

Pandora was  _ his.  _

Rhys took a deep breath, his eyes slowly rolling over the familiar landscape stretching outside the window of his new Atlas building. They began construction just a few days prior, the works nowhere near close to finishing – but what with the whole bandit fiasco back in their initial HQ, he didn’t exactly have many options. 

Besides, the personal office located 70 feet off the ground gave way to a spectacular view of his  _ property _ . 

That is, save for a single eyesore. 

“All done here, boss,”- A worker on the other end of the Echocom announced, breaking through the thick silence of the room, -“Ready when you are.” 

Rhys smirked, blinking languidly as he simply whispered, -“Tear. It.  _ Down _ .” 

He pulled his fingers into the shape of a gun, outstretching his arm as it pointed towards the ginormous billboard with Handsome Jack’s face plastered on it. 

_ Jack Needs You! _ The ugly crumbling thing read,  _ To Save Pandora! _

_ Vault Hunters Wanted.  _

He cocked his hand upwards in a mockery of a shot at the same time as the explosion rang throughout the desert, the billboard giving an unsteady wobble before tumbling over with a resounding crash. A giant dust cloud formed around it, and he heard his people cheer. 

Rhys blew on his fingers. He laughed. 

This was the very first order he gave out upon returning back home, back to  _ his _ planet barely an hour ago - and oh, how  _ incredibly _ satisfying it was to finally get rid of that eyesore. That  _ annoyance _ . 

That piece of trash that now lay steaming under his feet. 

If he thought he felt powerful before, it definitely had nothing on the firework of emotion going off in his guts at this moment. 

Rhys loosened his tie, throwing it over his shoulder as he unbuttoned the first few buttons of his silk shirt, the room suddenly too hot, too suffocating. He finally turned his back on the window, making way to the polished mahogany table instead, dropping down on his own tacky throne of a chair in exhaustion and righteous celebration. 

The contract lay in front of him, Jack’s inky signature curving almost erotically against the stark white paper. Rhys licked his lips. His skin prickled.  

Getting Pandora was always the plan - failure was  _ not _ an option, and if Atlas was ever going to rise back from its ashes, its CEO knew  _ exactly _ how far he was willing to go. He was doing this for all of them, after all. The whole Atlas family, their customers, their investors, and even Pandora itself – everyone was going to be better off with Atlas at the steering wheel, that much was clear. 

Anyone would be better than Hyperion. 

And now Rhys knew for a fact –  _ he was  _ better than Hyperion. 

He hadn’t stopped smiling since he came back. 

Throwing his feet onto the table, he sank in his chair as he remembered Jack’s pathetic whines. His rage. His desperation. 

_ God _ , the way he looked when he was signing the contract... 

Of course, the thrill of the chase was fantastic. Ownership of Pandora even more so. But it all would’ve been nothing without that absolute, pure, genuine, complete devastation written across Handsome Jack’s face. 

_ And it was all because of Rhys.  _

He was pulled out of his trance almost violently, startled with the realization that his zipper was already halfway down, having undone the button of his trousers and his Rakk skin belt. Rhys breathed out shakily through his nose, only then grasping just  _ how _ hard he was. 

Well, this was an...unprecedented development. 

A better man, perhaps, would have stopped. A better man would’ve recognized how fucked up was the very thought of jacking off to his corporate rival’s desperate pleas. A better man wouldn’t have found himself in this position in the first place.

But he was more than a little tired and definitely excruciatingly tense and, really, was it honestly that wrong to mark his quite substantial victory with a tiny celebration? 

Though, most importantly, Rhys really didn’t care about being a better man. And so he finished pulling the zipper. 

He smirked, raising his cyber arm and bringing up the footage from his little trip to Helios because  _ of course _  he had been recording everything that happened to his Echoeye, he wasn’t an  _ idiot _ . It was his one and only chance to see the halls of Hyperion’s stronghold, seek out any structural weaknesses, learn the about the passages and the people and the functions and the workings of his biggest rival, no matter how brief the visit was. 

It didn’t matter that he was now fast-forwarding to the very moment Jack was sitting in his chair, slouched over yet impossibly rigid at the same time, that look of frenzied fear glossing over his unfocused, constricted pupils. Rhys swallowed down hard, his breath coming out a bit shaky. 

_ “Who? _ ” – The Jack on the recording lied, desperately, frantically, his face giving away more emotion than one would ever think possible from a mask. 

Before he knew it, Rhys was palming himself through his boxers, letting out a low, breathy hiss at the jolt of pleasure it sent up his spine. He tried not to think about how fucked up this was.

[ ](https://ibb.co/tLqD95Y)

Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t hard. 

And then he was scrolling forward yet again, watching Jack’s entire body seize up in rage as he threw himself forward to sign the contract, his hands refusing to obey under the influence of the toxin, every muscle twitching with resentment. Rhys was spitting into his own hand then, sneaking it under the waistband of his boxers, tugging slow, dirty, needy, as he kept rewatching that one fantastic, glorious, sexual minute of the President of Hyperion, King of Pandora,  _ Handsome goddamn Jack _ sign over everything and anything he owned under crushing hopelessness.

With the way he was surging himself onto that desk, as though in wild desperation to sign Pandora over to Rhys, as though he couldn’t get  _ enough _ . 

Rhys sank down lower in his chair, his legs spreading wider, hips bucking forward ever so slightly as he kept gently fucking into his own hand, keeping the pace steady. It was impossibly hot now, his skin burning under the stifling clothes and he wanted to rip his goddamn shirt off – but that would mean moving his cybernetic hand, and he wasn’t willing to make that sacrifice. 

His eyes were all but glued to the maddening fury painted over Jack’s features when Rhys was tucking the contract back into his jacket. He was too busy then, too ecstatic in his victory and haste to get away from the space station to properly appreciate the impossible ways in which the other man’s mask contorted itself to reflect exactly what must have been displayed underneath it.

Rhys had the sudden desire to rip it off of his face. Stomp it into the dirt as Jack whimpered on his knees. 

He tugged at his cock harder, head thrown back as a loud moan echoed through the nearly empty office. 

He cracked an eye open and –  _ god _ , he must’ve scrolled back way too far because now Jack was no longer slouched in the chair underneath him, he was  _ above  _ him, hands outstretched, that look of frantic anger replaced by an almost feverish grin as he was squeezing the very life out of Rhys. And  _ fuck _ , Rhys was breathing harder now, panting desperately like a wounded animal, hips thrusting wildly as his movements became sloppy. It wasn’t enough.

It wasn’t  _ enough _ . 

The pressure wasn’t there, the image itself meant  _ nothing _ – and without thinking, Rhys was now bringing his cybernetic arm to his throat, his own fingers perfectly aligning with the already formed bruises. He snapped his eyes shut, trying his hardest to keep that image of Jack in his head as he began to  _ squeeze _ , to  _ choke  _ himself hard, perhaps harder than Jack,  _ needing  _ the pressure, the burn, the hurt. 

And it fucking  _ hurt _ . 

It was  _ fucking fantastic _ . 

His eyes flew open as he began to see black dots swimming around his vision, that unbearable, overwhelming heat pooling in the pit of his stomach as he knew he was close, could feel the familiar shake in his hands and legs as they spread out further, mind muddled with a frenzied fog and-

The call was so abrupt and sudden Rhys couldn’t help but jump. 

His Echo rang loud and clear in the quiet office, the sound mixing together with Rhys’ vicious gasps and his pounding heartbeat. He felt as though he was doused with a bucket of cold water, that crushing heat rapidly seeping out of his veins only to be replaced with pure ice. 

Helios was calling. 

_ Jack _ was calling. 

His hand hadn’t stopped moving. 

“ _ Fuck, _ ”- Rhys muttered, too loud for his own ears, too breathless. Why now.

Why now, why now,  _ why now. _

What the fuck could  _ he  _ possibly want?

His first instinct was to decline it, to block the number, to rip his arm off completely just so he wouldn’t be able to call again. He missed the heat. He missed the pressure. 

He wanted  _ more _ . 

Rhys was answering before his brain could even register, his lips smirking up at Jack without a second thought as he extended his cybernetic arm to look at him. 

_ His hand never stopped moving.  _

“He-he-hey there, Atlas!”- Jack greeted, outstretching his arms as though in a grand embrace, and Rhys felt his throat tighten, -“How you doing there, cupcake? Celebrating your precious little victory? Gloating like the little  _ shit  _ that you are?”

His face was a rabid mix of anger and glee, his grin wild as his eyebrows knitted together so tightly it looked almost painful. 

Rhys didn’t have a plan. He had no clue where to go on from here. 

All he knew was that his cock throbbed madly at the now all too familiar voice, and Rhys definitely wasn’t one to deny it. 

“H-Hey, Jack,”- He managed to stutter our, voice just as hoarse and breathless as he imagined it would be, the bruises on his throat burning holes in his skin. He probably should have felt embarrassed. Humiliated. 

His cock pulsed in his hand. 

Jack’s smile only grew. 

“Oof, sounding rough there, buddy. I really did a number on your throat, didn’t I? Yeah, sorry about that,”- He leaned into the screen, eyes growing wider as he scanned Rhys’ form, -“If I knew you were going to poison me with a goddamn neurotoxin, I would’ve made sure just to  _ shoot your brains out  _ instead.” 

He spat that last part like venom and Rhys had to bite down on his lower lip not to whimper.  _ Fuck _ this was  _ good _ . 

“Wh-What do you want, Ja- Ah-“- He wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore, sinking even lower into his chair as he let his mouth hang open, his thumb desperately spreading precum from his slit down his shaft, throat drier than any Pandoran desert. 

He was waiting for that moment, that second when the penny would finally drop and Jack would realize – the anticipation made his nerves burn and that heat was fast returning. It was all he could do not to let his eyes roll back in his head. 

“Ah, glad you asked, kiddo! You probably think you won, huh? Probably think you kicked good ol’ Jack to the curb and that this is all over, right?”

He wasn’t getting it. 

_ He wasn’t getting it _ . 

The absurdity of it all was enough to make Rhys bark out a dry laugh, the effort leaving his head spinning. 

“Ha  _ ha  _ \- Yeah, I guess it  _ is  _ pretty funny. But  _ you _ won’t be the last one laughing – you can trust me on that one, pal.” 

Jack’s face was now scrunched up in bitter annoyance, nostrils puffing out with every exhale, eyes glaring, those pupils constricted so tightly in absolute  _ hatred _ . His voice was low now, a threatening whisper as he blinked slowly, jaw clenched tight. 

Rhys was violently thrusting into his own fist, a string of saliva now travelling down his chin. 

_ He was such an idiot _ .

“I gotta be honest, Rhysie, you surprised me – maybe you really are a step above all the other bandit low life on that hellhole of a planet,”- He continued, and Rhys swallowed hard as his fingers moved backwards to massage the area between his ass and his balls, -“Hidden neurotoxin in your cybernetics? Hell, that’s- That’s genius, baby! I would’ve even hired you to work for Hyperion if I didn’t know you were such an  _ absolute dick _ .” 

Jack’s eyes glossed over with something different then, his expression growing more grave by the minute as that unnatural, predatory smile stretched, and he leaned in even closer, so close that Rhys could swear he could feel his breath on his overexcited skin.  

“Unfortunately for you, you made one tiny little horrible mistake, Rhys. You see, there are certain lines that one simply does not cross – and  _ you  _ managed to cross all of them. I’m- Well, I’m afraid I simply  _ cannot _ let that slide.” 

An undignified whimper escaped Rhys’ lips as his bleary eyes landed on the contract still lying on the table, Jack’s signature now half-hidden underneath the heel of his skagskin boot. His hand tightened around his cock, and now it was almost painful. He was close again. So goddamn  _ close _ . 

“Heh, it’s alright to be scared. You  _ should _ be scared. Because let me tell you, Rhysie…”- Jack’s voice was barely audible now if not for the all-encompassing silence of the office, his eyes staring so intently Rhys thought he might have been staring right into his very soul, -“My only regret is not having my hands around your throat. Right. Now.” 

If the ringing in his ears wasn’t so goddamn loud, he maybe would’ve heard someone off-screen mumble “We traced his signal, sir. Ready when you are”. And if the stars in his eyes weren’t so fucking bright he may have even seen Jack mouth “Fire”.

But as it was, Rhys choked at the other man’s words, all his breath escaping his lungs all at once as his vision swam and the desperate heat reached its peak entirely. He was coming with a ravenous cry, somewhere between Jack’s name and a frantic moan as he spilt out on his hand, his shirt, even the goddamn table.

It all happened so quick, almost simultaneously, and by the time both men were done, all that was left to do is stare at each other through the waving screen of the Echo. 

Rhys was panting hard, hands and knees still shaky, expecting suffocating embarrassment to come grasping at his stomach the second he was done – but then his eyes finally focused back on Jack and he looked-

Oh, he looked  _ remarkable _ . 

His eyes grew three sizes wider, eyebrows shot up nearly to his hairline as his mouth hung open in absolute astonishment. All the traces of rage, gloating, threat, annoyance – all the usual spectrum of emotion that was typically displayed on the vast canvas of Jack’s mask was gone  _ completely _ , replaced in its entirety by nothing short of pure surprise. 

Rhys didn’t think he was capable of truly exhibiting such a genuine expression, yet here they were. An eternity captured in a single moment. 

The cum stains on the contract were already beginning to dry. 

Jack stood still for so long he was beginning to think the image froze. He wasn’t even blinking. 

“I- Y- Wh- Y-“- The man finally stuttered out, his eyes twitching around in a frenzy, and Rhys couldn’t help the manic grin that spread across his mouth as he laughed. 

So this is what it took to stun Handsome Jack into silence, huh. 

Well, he decided that he rather liked it.

“D-Did you- Were you- Were you just-  _ Jacking off?  _ As I was  _ threatening  _ you!?”

That absolute power coursed through his veins again, pulsing under his skin like fire. 

Rhys laughed harder, his whole body buzzing with ecstasy as he ran his cum stained hand through his hair as though to emphasize his point, his maniacal smile growing even wider as his eyes never left Jack’s. 

 “Yeah.  _ And what of it.”  _

He gave Jack one last pointed look. 

And then he hung up the call. 

 

* * *

Jack still stood there, staring at that empty screen, eyes passing right through it. He was still frozen, mouth still hanging open.

He blinked once. Then twice. Then three times. 

His brain kept of firing neurons, he was sure of it, gears turning loud enough for there to be a grinding sound in his head. But he just refused to process it. He  _ couldn’t  _ process it.

_ That smug fucking bastard-  _

He couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe Rhys was ballsy enough to- He had the fucking guts to- 

Jack couldn’t stop the hysterical smile that threatened to split his face in half, the dry laugh that escaped his still parted lips. It was rare he was surprised by anything anymore – even rarer that he was rendered speechless by it. 

But this…

Well. He had to admit – the kid stunned him into a stupor. There was no denying it. 

There was also no denying the painful hardness that now throbbed against his jeans. 

Okay, Rhys intrigued him. Rhys intrigued him  _ quite a bit _ . 

“Meg,”- He turned on his heel as he called for the girl so suddenly she jumped in her seat. Jack didn’t spare her a single glance, -“Call off the Moonshots. I’m- I’m heading down there myself.” 

She gave him a wild look. She knew better than to question.

“Y-Yes, sir.” 

Jack stopped in front of the giant window overlooking Pandora. That disgusting lump of space garbage he devoted his life to saving. Somewhere down there, an idiot was sitting in his office chair, looking as cocky as one possibly could with his own cum staining his face. 

The goddamn nerve of that asshole…

Jack stared through with unseeing eyes, his insides still aching from the toxin. 

The plan was almost comically simple. Keep the idiot on the line for long enough to trace the call, then blast the shit out of all known Atlas buildings starting with the one he was in. Jack had no more desire or will to indulge his stupid little games – when it came to Angel, he didn’t care how it was done. 

But…  _ Fuck.  _

He would have to come up with something. Find another way. 

_ Rhys was… _

“Um, sir? I just reached the Moonshot Sector and, um-“- Meg stumbled, knowing all too well how her boss took bad news, -“It’s too late. They say it’s impossible to call them back at this stage.” 

Jack blinked. 

Turned around to face her for the first time.

“What the fuck do you mean  _ impossible _ \- that’s what the emergency override is for, isn’t it?”

“It, uh, broke last month. You- Um,  _ we _ still haven’t diverted funding into fixing it.” 

Jack blinked again. Really, he was just doing a whole lot of blinking. 

And then before he could even think about it he was already dialling Atlas yet again, fingers rapping impatiently against the window frame. He didn’t know why he was so frantic. Didn’t know why he was bothering. 

He just knew that something in his gut was clenching and that he had to act before he gave it a second thought. 

Of course, the fucking piece of skag shit didn’t bother picking up – neither on the first, nor on the second try. So when the Echo reached voice mail for the third time, Jack smashed his fist against the window, gritting his teeth. 

“Listen to me, Rhys, and listen carefully because I’m only going to say it once,”- He muttered, already running out of breath, -“Get out. Leave the building you’re in immediately. Don’t bother pulling the alarm or evacuating the staff – they won’t make it. Leap out the goddamn window if you have to but-“

“Moonshots firing T-minus two minutes, sir,”- Meg announced helpfully, and Jack clenched his fist so tight his knuckles paled. 

“ _ Get out _ .” 

He abruptly finished the call, eyes still staring out into the cold vacuum of space beyond. He didn’t know if the message would reach him. Didn’t even know if he  _ wanted  _ it to reach him. 

There was something unfamiliar and sickening tugging at his chest. Probably the remnants of the neurotoxin in his blood. 

Probably. 

He chewed at his bottom lip as he felt the station begin to rumble, that familiar glow from his cannon illuminating his face the brighter it grew. 

_ Interesting _ .

The word came to Jack’s mind uninvited, swimming up clearly through his muddled thoughts as Helios gave one last proper shake before firing off the first array of Moonshots. The burning orbs raced down to Pandora with pinpoint precision, shrinking in size as they travelled through the tiny distance separating the station from the planet. Like shooting stars. 

Jack sighed, pressing his heated palm against the cool glass, exasperation draining all his strength fast. This was ridiculous. He was a goddamn idiot. He had no reason to bother saving that asshole from his way overdue grave, except that…

Well, Rhys was interesting.

And it would be a damn shame to let that go to waste. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to give kudos and comment!


	8. Phoenix from the Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter has been written by the incredibly multi-talented @GayandFortunate who both wrote and drew art for this one! Please leave them some love in the comments and by leaving kudos. 
> 
> We hope you're enjoying the story and are just as eager as we are to see what will happen next chapter!

“Fuck.” 

 

Well, _that_ happened then.

Rhys breathes out a shaky sigh into the quiet of his office. Already too aware of what he’s just done and feeling the heady power and pleasure seeping out of him drip by drip while the tension winds up to replace it.

He goes to run jittery fingers through his hair. Wincing slightly as the drying cum left behind causes it to tangle and pull unpleasantly- and laughs.

 

He’s only gone and got spunk in his hair, after having had the best wank of his _goddamn life_ , and laughing in the (digital) face of his literal nemesis. 

 

Rhys’ gives up on trying to smooth his hair and moves his hand back down to cover his face, giggles bubbling through the cracks of his fingers. Oh this is either the best or worst decision he’s made in at least the last couple of hours- he really needs to address what is now becoming a streak of impulsive decisions regarding the Hyperion CEO.

 

So of course, as if summoned by the thought, Rhys’ ECHO begins to chime with an incoming call from the man himself.

The giggles rack up and the call is ignored. ‘No more’ Rhys thinks to himself as he leans back into his chair and tries to muffle this rising mania. He’s made enough reckless decisions for the day, now it’s time to gather his damn wits and get down to business.

 

He’s fairly confident his breathing in back in check when the call request finally flickers out on his ECHOeye’s display. 

Which immediately springs back to life at a second incoming call.

 

Ha,  _ haha _ , holy shit.

 

That’s it then- Rhys’ chair tips back as he well and truly loses it. Peals of laughter ringing out through the office and likely down the hall to spook an assistant or two. Just trying to imagine what Jack wants to say to him  _ now  _ of all times leaves Rhys tickled fucking pink!

He can imagine it now, Jack’s snarling grin as he leans in too close to his ECHO device and taunts Rhys- thanks him for the little show… maybe Jack’s the one with a hand down his own trousers this time-

 

No.

 

No, Rhys is not going to go there. Or at least not so soon. 

 

He’s saved from his own thoughts by Jack’s second attempt to reach him cutting off… followed by a third.

A bit of doubt begins to creep in. It’s no secret the Hyperion CEO hates to be ignored, but three back-to-back calls? Seems desperate- and while Rhys likes to think he’s left Jack hot and bothered, he’s confident the other man would rather die than come off as needy. 

So Rhys sits up to watch the third call request ring and eventually time out. Finally allowing himself to breathe when call number four doesn’t follow- Only to tense up when a blip in the corner of his UI informs him that Handsome Jack has left him a voicemail.

 

Curiosity with a touch of panic fills Rhys’ system, as he goes to play the message. 

 

“Listen to me, Rhys, and listen carefully because I’m only going to say it once.”

 

Well, Rhys is confident Jack isn’t… jacking off, at least.

“Get out. Leave the building you’re in immediately. Don’t bother pulling the alarm or evacuating the staff – they won’t make it. Leap out the goddamn window if you have to but-” 

 

Rhys scrunches his nose in distaste as the voicemail continues to play but feels his irritation pushed aside by cold, sudden dread as a muffled voice over the ECHO mentions ‘moonshots’.

 

“ **Get out** -” Jack’s final warning and the click of the call disconnecting cements the last of Rhys’ fears. He’s out of his chair and scrambling for the door before his brain has finished processing what this means.

 

_ ‘Don’t bother pulling the alarm or evacuating the staff – they won’t make it.’ _

 

“Shit!”

 

Rhys slams his fist against the door control panel. Jack is right- they won’t make it, not all of them and the chaos of the entire facility trying to evacuate… He growls with frustration and hovers in the now open doorway. His chances of escaping are better on his own, maybe even following through with Jack’s stupid advice and running to a lower level before finding the most convenient window to leap from.

 

But Rhys remembers. That cold, impatient look on Jack’s face as he urged Rhys to cut Hyperion’s R&D department off from the rest of Helios. To leave those people to die. 

He refuses to be like that- Rhys is not like Jack, he’s smarter, and faster, and  _ better _ .

 

With a defiant hiss, Rhys raises the alarm and begins to make his way out of the soon to be ruin.

 

* * *

 

It’s not long before Rhys can hear the chaos. He’s cleared two floors before the halls are filled with employees, hollering and yelling for one another to hurry, run and don’t stop till they’ve cleared the building. There’s not enough visibility- He can’t make heads or tails where the first shot will land or when, only that he needs to move, and fast. 

 

Rhys is putting through a call before he can regret the decision. Miffed to be asking for help, but not willing to let his pride get in the way of survival.

 

Before it can connect, someone rushes past Rhys’ left, knocking his shoulder and sending him pressing into the worst of the crowd. In the rush, either no one notices, or cares that their boss is being shoved along by desperate hands and elbows. 

 

_“Well helloooo, pumpkin,”_ a cocky voice rings through Rhys’ head.

 

Rhys bites off a yelp as some upstart catches him in the eye, sure to leave a bruise, and spits venom down the line.

 

“Jack, tell me where the first shot is landing.  _ Now _ .”

 

He makes use of his height to peer over the masses and sees the rest of the hallway leading to the elevators and stairwell are packed just the same. Panicked sardines pressing against a net. 

 

_“Whoa, kitten! That’s an awfully rude greeting for the guy trying to save your sorry ass. Ungrateful, really,”_ Jack muses to himself. His tone is light, but Rhys can hear a twinge to his voice. Of what- tension? Annoyance? 

 

Before he can make heads or tails of it, Jack is pressing on through what sounds like gritted teeth.

 

_ “Hm, and is that an alarm I hear? Pretty sure I told you not to bother- and now what, you’re scrabbling to the door with a hundred other chumps. Real smart, Atlas.” _

 

Oh yeah, he’s definitely ticked off.

 

“The moonshot,  _ Hyperion, _ ” Rhys grits out. 

 

There’s a huff on the other end of the line before a set of projected times and coordinates are displayed through his ECHOeye. 

 

“Shit. Shitshitshitshit _ shit _ ,” Rhys mutters to himself as he notes the first shot will hit the vehicle garage… and the second looks to be an almost direct hit on the hallway he’s currently occupying. 

 

He shoves his way through the crowd towards an adjoining meeting room in the hopes of cutting through it to an alternative stairwell in accounting, feeling frustration and regret burning through him as he’s met with more resistance from the legions of evacuating staff.

All this effort to save these idiots and what has Rhys gotten for it? A hell of a lot of bruises, probably a black eye, and the very real threat of not making it out of here alive.

As he pries open the door a body crashes into his with a surprised cry, leaving Rhys and his assailant both scrabbling on their hands and knees towards the safety of the meeting room. 

 

“Rhys?”

 

“…Vaughn!?” 

 

Rhys rushes to his knees and takes the shorter man into his arms for a beat before checking him over- much the same as Rhys, Vaughn seems to have acquired a rainbow of bruises over his body during the struggle, along with a split lip. 

 

_ “Oh Reeeeeze! Vaaawn!” _

 

Rhys flinches at the over the top accent Jack drawls over the line. He’d forgotten the bastard was still there. 

 

“Shut up,” he counters, only noticing the startled look on his friend’s face a moment later.

 

“No no, not you. Sorry, long story.”

 

“Riiiiiight,” Vaughn nods as he sees Rhys gesture to his port.

 

With no time left to fuss, Rhys drags Vaughn to his feet and urges him towards the exit on the opposite side of the room.

 

“Hey, hey! I just came that way, Bro. It’s a bloodbath out there,” Vaughn tries to send them back the opposite way, but Rhys is having none of it- too aware of the ever dwindling countdown to that second, deadly moonshot. 

 

His hand pauses on the doorhandle out. “Listen, I know where the moonshots will land...roughly. We can’t go that way. But I need to know what we’re dealing with this side, buddy.”

 

Rhys can hear a scoff from Jack over the comm, which he lets slide through gritted teeth. He could still be useful, he could still be useful Rhys reminds himself. He’ll be damned if he dies here, and if that means working with Jack  _ again _ then he bloody well will. 

 

“It’s wild out there,” Vaughn frets, “the whole main corridor is packed, and you’d think being a Director would count for something but I got my lip busted by one of my own damn interns, she usually can’t even hold eye contact!” 

 

More of the same over this side then, Rhys takes a steadying breath as he pulls up his map of the facility and checks his ECHO display- less than a minute now before the first shot hits, followed 30 seconds on by the second shot, bound for the neighbouring corridor Rhys fled from. He doubts this side of the building will fare much better even without a direct hit. 

As Rhys scans over the floor plan he catches on a marking indicating a drop to other levels in… the filing room? But it’s small- a vent or something?

 

“Hey uh, do you know what this is?”

 

“What-  _ Oh _ ,” Vaughn’s eyes light up with renewed hope.

 

“It-it’s a dumbwaiter for transporting physical copies of accounts into storage,” he exclaims. “Rhys, it’d be tight but- but we...we could ride this straight to the ground fl-oooor!” 

 

Before Vaughn can finish his train of thought, Rhys is pulling him out through the door, into the madness of the accountancy department and making a beeline for the filing room.

It’s a struggle, they’re now moving against the flow of the crowd and the two nearly lose their grip on one another as the building shakes with the first impact of a moonshot.

Screams ring out through the hall and Rhys completely loses his footing as a group of middle managers jostle past him for the stairs. 

 

Rhys shuts his eyes in preparation for his face to be formally introduced to the shiny, panelled flooring of the facility, when an arm wraps around his middle and hoists him over a surprisingly muscular shoulder.

 

“Uuuuh, did you get stung by bees?”

 

“What? Why? What’s happening?”

 

Vaughn pants out as he adjusts Rhys over his shoulder and makes a sprint for the doors to filing. It’s only after they’re safely inside and Rhys has both feet back on the ground that he grins down at his friend. 

 

“Cause you’re looking all swoooole-”

 

The second moonshot hits.

 

* * *

 

When the ringing in Rhys’ ears subsides he risks an attempt to drag himself up off the floor- the room is in shambles, and from where he’s sitting he thinks he can see out into the corridor through a hole torn into the wall. There’s a great mass of people, all pushing and dragging and climbing their way through the debris. It’s difficult to distinguish just how much of it is rubble and how much is… Rhys can see glimpses, bodies littered amongst it all- catches sight of a hand weakly twitch before it’s crushed underfoot, and turns away in a rush to find Vaughn.

 

Jack’s slightly crackled voice rings through his head, calling out over the comm line. But either the impact - when Rhys hit the ground - has muddled his ECHO, or that last moonshot actually managed to damage the local connection. He ignores the scramble of static and syllables to focus his hearing, catching the sound of someone coughing not far to his right, and moves quickly to help Vaughn out from under a half-collapsed desk.

 

His friend manages a smile, and they stand to collectively limp towards the dumbwaiter and assess the damage.

It’s bad- the car has dropped to the ground floor and Rhys wouldn’t bet money on it coming back up. The counterweight looks fucked, but the guide rails look to be intact- he goes to activate his ECHOeye, if they can just hold his and Vaughn’s weight, maybe… Rhys jerks back with a hiss as a spike of pain flares through the left side of his face the moment he attempts to initiate the scan. Fuck, so maybe it  _ is _ his systems wigging out.

 

Vaughn wheezes out a concerned sound and grips Rhys’ arm in a show of support.

 

“Y-yeah, I’m fine, bro.”

 

He just doesn’t have time to  _ think _ ! The options are clear though, simple; go back into the fray, probably perishing in a human crush… or risk the shaft. 

 

“Vaughn, you’re gonna have to trust me on this one,” Rhys implores before clutching Vaughn tightly around the waist and reaching out with his cybernetic arm to grip at one of the dumbwaiters guide rails.

 

“Uuuh Rhys…”

 

Rhys leans out into the shaft, one foot still planted on the edge.

 

“Just hold on tight, okay?”

 

“ **RHYS** ”

 

Vaughn clings to his shoulders with enough force to leave bruises or at least piss off the ones that are no doubt already there, as Rhys mutters under his breath that if Jack can still hear him over the call-  _ Fuck _ .  _ You _ . 

He lets his right arm take all of his and Vaughn’s weight, then slowly pushes off the edge with his foot- leaving the two of them dangling dozens of stories. He veeery slightly relaxes his grip. 

 

There’s screaming- It’s him, he thinks. Him and Vaughn screaming as they plummet at least 5 stories before Rhys can tighten his grip enough to slow their descent. Every time they pass against a bump or weld in the rail the metal of his palm gives an unbearable screech, angry red sparks fly, they singe the side of Rhys’ cheek where he’s leant in too close to keep balance.

His shoulder burns, it’s screaming too- in protest of what he’s forcing the joint where artificial meets organic to bear. There’s the risk his body will give out before any of his concerns about the rail snapping come to fruition. 

 

It certainly beats the stairwell though, what feels like hours of agony- falling, falling, falling- is in reality barely 5 minutes. The building groans and shakes regularly, from the weight of its own seams coming apart, and from new moonshots biting holes into the already mangled structure. 

Rhys thinks he might be crying as he feels his feet finally hit the bottom of the shaft, or that could be sweat. His right ankle rolls with the impact, and it’s a certain thing that it’s sprained. 

 

The two of them stand there, bloodied and panting for longer than they should allow- before Vaughn is the one to gently take Rhys’ left arm over his shoulder and support him as they slowly make their way to the door and out into the main atrium. 

 

* * *

 

There’s a crowd forming at the atrium’s exit. This doesn’t come as a surprise to either of the men. It’s a connecting point of the facility, a towering prism of bulletproof glass that leads to almost all other departments and outbuildings on the compound. What does surprise them is that the large mechanised door leading out into the courtyards, then on to the Pandoran wastes, is shut tight.

 

At the head of the crowd amongst the panicking masses is his Director of Requisitions, Yvette. She stands tall, if somewhat ruffled, on a stage of rubble. From this distance Rhys can’t make out what she’s saying, but her hands move in placating gestures- her normally curt demeanour softened in an attempt to calm a stadiums worth of frantic desk jockeys.

 

As Rhys and Vaughn move closer, they catch her eye and she gestures for a handful of security who still have their wits about them to help ease their journey to the front of the mob.

 

“Yvette,” Vaughn crows happily as they reach her, pulling her into a brief half-hug with his free arm. 

 

“Vaughn, Rhys! I thought you’d both- you were both at least 50 floors up, how did you?” 

 

“No time,” Rhys cuts in, “why aren’t the doors open? This was an evac, not a lockdown.”

 

“The mechanism’s been damaged. No one here knows how to fix the damn thing and security can’t force it,” Yvette turns to the console, inviting Rhys to inspect it for himself.

 

Vaughn helps him to the panel controlling the exit- it sparks threateningly as Rhys goes to kneel by it, irritating the already sensitive skin of his face.

There’s no way he can remotely access it. It’s been ripped half off the wall, and while the unintelligible chatter from Jack’s side of the call cut off some time during their decent down the dumbwaiters shaft, there’s still a telltale fizzing in his ear warning him that any meaty tasks undertaken using his ECHO functions are going to lead to a headache at best- and more realistically? Brain damage. 

 

No, this will need to be manual. He’ll have to- He looks to his metal arm, laying mostly limp at his right side and feels the remaining ache in his shoulder. Alright- Someone  _ else _ will have to have to pry, then hold open the access panel while he tries to- to  _ hotwire _ it. Well, he supposes, he  _ is _ Pandoran and breaking in- and out of places is considered an inherent talent of theirs’. 

Rhys looks up to Vaughn and Yvette.

 

“Yvette, I need you and whatever security we have left here to keep the crowds back- a-and gloves, two sets, well two and a half. Vaughn, do you think you can get this panel off?”

 

His friends leap into action. Rhys hasn’t even had a chance to blink and Yvette is turning on the remaining Atlas security guards, barking orders to get back to the crowd, focus on keeping anyone from pushing too close to the door controls or main mechanisms. Before the last of them can rush to their places, Yvette yanks two guards in with a sharp smile and has them give up their gloves to her.

 

Vaughn takes the gloves, catching on to why they’re needed as he moves in closer to hand Rhys his own single glove. The panel is lit up like a Christmas tree and the heat radiating off it has him breaking out into a sweat almost immediately. 

 

With a nod to each other, Vaughn grips the panel with both hands and gives a sharp tug. It mostly comes away, easier where it’s been weakened by the heat, but the front hangs on by a red-hot jagged edge. Enough to work with, it seems, as Rhys quickly reaches in with his gloved hand to pull away wires and scraps of tech. 

 

Rhys can hear the roar of the crowd elevating. He’s not sure if it’s due to a renewed hope for freedom, or if there’s a riot brewing. There’s no time to worry about it- the heat brought on by the initial damage is turning into an ouroboros, causing the hardware to burn hotter and hotter while degrading the mechanism further. Before long the door will be immovable, and they’ll be trapped.

 

With a wince, Rhys drags his right arm forward to help speed the process along. The door gives an answering shudder and a gust of cool air can be felt where the exit has opened a fraction. Not enough to let a body through yet, but the crowd takes notice and begin to press in from all sides. 

As the gap widens centimetre by centimetre, the hysteria grows. Rhys can feel Yvette pressed against his back, keeping a shaky grip of her command as the space enforced by security tightens. 

Finally, the tension snaps- he can’t see what’s triggers them but screams ring out through the atrium. Yvette is crushed against him as a swarm of staff, including the now fleeing guards press against the door.

Rhys struggles to back away from the console when he’s nearly forced face-first into the burning metal insides of it. He hears Vaughn shout in pain and turns to see his friend’s side caught by the sharp tooth edge of the panel he’d been holding back.

 

The trio gather together and quickly press along the wall, away from the hazardous heat and towards the marginally opened doorway. Wide enough for two to walk through side by side. Not that anyone is being so polite about it. 

Soon enough the reason why is clear, Rhys looks up to the atriums ceiling and sees it. A moonshot on a direct course for where they stand. He’s sure of it, and a glance at the flickering list of coordinates and timescales provided by Jack on his ECHO confirms it.

 

He can’t move- he can’t  _ move.  _

He’s being pushed at from all sides. His arm and ankle are killing him- and a fucking moonshot is about to crash down on his head, which is also killing him!

Rhys wants to live, shit he wants to live so bad. But he’s frozen in place with some kind of feeling between horror and absolute fucking resignation as he looks up at the eye of Helios.

The decision to give in and die here, or claw his own way out kicking and screaming is taken from him as Vaughn and Yvette each grip him by a shoulder, hauling him out and through the gap along with the stampede. 

 

It’s a near thing- They’re swept away from the building along with the crowd as the moonshot lands. The ground shakes and the atrium shatters, sending bodies and debris flying. The trio are knocked off their feet by the force of it, out and away from the building as shards of glass and metal scrape at them.

 

Rhys shifts to sit up to observe his surroundings, careful of his now floor-length list of aches and pains. He can see the charred carcass of the atrium, smoke is billowing from what little of the facility remains standing and what’s standing looks about ready to topple…

 

It’s gone. it’s all  _ fucking gone _ and he didn’t even have a chance to ring in the first bloody day!

 

He doesn’t yell, but like most of his escapes today, it’s a near fucking thing. He’s aware of small groups now, huddling in the dirt and the dust. They look lost, pathetic, and for a wild moment Rhys is back in the shattering dome of his incomplete achievement. He sees the crowds again, pressing at all sides and willing to drag him under when he’s the only reason they could be saved  _ at all _ . 

 

He imagines not raising the alarm, finding his way to safety while his staff work on unaware. Maybe that would have been kinder. 

He imagines clawing through the crowd with more force, a shot between the eyes for anyone in his way-

 

That train of thought is shaken from him as Vaughn and Yvette each lay a hand on his shoulder. The two look tense, but there’s fire in their eyes as they await his order.

 

He imagines sitting here in the corpse of what would have been his home without them. 

Not learning about the dumbwaiter and dying in some stupid stairwell. 

Being crushed underfoot in the atrium before he could even make it to the main door- let alone open it without level headed, organised assistance. 

 

The liquid fury licking at his insides begins to cool, and Rhys feels it harden into something determined as he looks back out at the scene before him.

 

He’d say a good number of staff members have managed escape through alternate exits. As gruelling as it was, this is what he wanted when he raised the alarms. For something here to live, to be salvageable. 

It’s now easier to bear the sight of his company laying bloodied in the wreckage. He’s not out here alone- or surrounded by corpses. Maybe a third of his personnel have survived - if Rhys was being optimistic- and that’s something. 

 

That’s more than _Jack_ had any faith he’d save.

 

Rhys takes a breath and the trio share a smile between themselves. They’ve built up from less before, and Pandora is no half-hearted side project.

 

 

 

They have work to do.


	9. Somewhere in Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello!!! A new chapter is here and written by yours truly, loki_dokey, since the author who was down to write was not able to complete their part at this time. 
> 
> The art was made by the incredibly talented @PukaoArt on Twitter and honestly I feel blessed.
> 
> Please enjoy! And for those who follow any of my own personal fics, you KNOW I love a twist ;)

Rhys squeezed his eyes closed as Yvette and Vaughn carefully helped him to his feet. Every one of his muscles ached terribly and he really didn't appreciate the way it suddenly felt like a hook had latched itself into his belly button. An unpleasant sensation of being yanked backwards - within himself - was unnatural, all-consuming and bone-shaking. He threw his eyes open wide, hoping to fall into Yvette's arms as he stumbled back. 

"What the _fuck_ ," came a gruff, concerned voice from behind him. Rhys blinked furiously as bright light seared across his vision. He glanced around as he acclimatised, his heart stopping as he took in the massive presence of an Atlas guard behind him who certainly wasn't Yvette. His eyes were darting about just as much as Rhys' were.

 

He was…

 

They were...

 

Aboard his Atlas shuttle..?

  
  
  
  


What…?

  
  
  
  
  
  


He blinked again before clutching at his chest, wishing he could work out how any of this had come to be.

"Sir, I…" The Atlas guard staggered beside him, rubbing his face. "How did we-"

Rhys shook his head, gormless. "Did I trip out?" he choked before checking his skull for bumps. "Did I smack my head on something?"

"No...I...this...I've been here before." Another guard appeared from down the hall, wringing her wrists. "The shuttle is chartered on a course for Helios. We...we've done this  _ before _ , sir."

Rhys couldn't find words to use as a response but threw up his palm holo. The date...the time...it all lined up with...time having...reversed? He nearly jumped out  of his skin when one of the guards yelled loudlt. He was staring out of the window, pointing and gasping. Rhys raced to a spot beside him and swore under his breath. 

Far below them, the Atlas HQ sprawled out like a spider across the Pandoran wastes. No smoke. No craters. Everything was…

 

Everything was _fine_.

 

The Atlas ship...was headed to  _ Helios.  _ The last time they were headed there was because...

"Rhys?" Jack's voice crackled through the speakers above. "You alive on that thing?" 

Rhys raced to the cockpit and threw himself between the shaken pilots to slam his fist down on the comms button. 

"What the  _ hell _ is going on, Jack?"

"I know I give off some awesome all-knowing all-seeing oracle vibes but this one takes the cake, kiddo. I'm...still pretty certain that I'm...living in some freakin' fever dream cos I  _ swear _ all this shit happened already."

Rhys' brain buzzed. He'd been on the shuttle to...stop Jack decrypting the Achlys chip... His heart stopped.

"Jack, the chip!"

"Already stopped all work on that," Jack replied, clicking his tongue audibly. "What, you think I'm an idiot or something? And that I wouldn't have thought of that?"

"So time really  _ has  _ reversed," Rhys murmured to himself, eyes blown wide. "How is this even possible?"

"Let's chat about it when you get to Helios in an hour, m'kay?" Jack sighed. "I'm gonna go make sure this damn chip hasn't done  _ any  _ damage. Congrats, Rhys! Looks like R&D will all go home to their wives and husbands and little tiny kiddies tonight, just like everyone at Atlas. I'm maybe thinking  _ you  _ had something to do with all this, Mr.  _ 'Gotta Save 'Em All _ '."

Rhys snapped a harsh reply at Jack's sing-song assery but the irritating man had gone by the time he spat it out. There was no point heading back to Atlas. Though he hated to admit it, he and Jack would be better working together to figure this out than apart.

 

*

 

Jack sat back in his office chair, scratching his head.

He was one hundred percent  _ smacked  _ by this turn of events. He'd dabbled in his fair share of drugs in the past but was sure he hadn't taken anything for a while. Was he dead? He checked his pulse. 

 

...Nope. 

 

So after speaking with Rhys, it appeared that everyone really  _ did _ remember everything that had happened. 

 

But it hadn't all actually happened, had it? He brought up his security satellite feeds of Atlas. All still grossly perfect in its build, Atlas stood tall and proud and  _ spotless _ .

  
  


And he wasn't dead or drugged. This was real.

  
  


Jack let out the breath he'd been holding in as he ran a shaking hand through his hair.

  
  


He needed a drink. 

 

*

 

The doors to Jack's office opened and Rhys strolled in, arms folded across his chest. Jack was sprawled out in his chair, a smirk on his lips and a glass of liquor in his hand. The only light in the room came from the ridiculously huge window behind him, casting the cavernous room in a deep purple glow. Rhys stalked towards him.

"Oh, Rhysie, baby! Take a  _ seat _ !" Jack cackled, gesturing with his free hand at the trapdoor chair Rhys absolutely already knew about. The Atlas CEO rolled his eyes at the chair and then at Jack. He continued up the steps and came right up to his side, raising a hand in an effort to slap him. Jack grabbed his wrist mid-swing and laughed as he lazily shoved Rhys away before turning back to his desk. Atlas snarled, groaned and then jabbed a finger at him. 

"You  _ blew up  _ my  _ headquarters _ ," he growled, spinning Jack's chair back around to face him. Jack complied - he'd let Rhys throw his tantrum until he was done because it was, in all honesty, hilarious. Jack’s following shrug seemed to drive Rhys to a wild conniption.

“ _Take some accountability, you Hyperion piece of shit-_ ”

"Where's your proof?" Jack cut in, grinning. He'd been waiting on the edge of his _seat_ to say that. Rhys cried out in frustration, throwing his hands in the air, and stormed over to the window, hands on his hips. He turned back around, accusing finger at it again. 

"You plagued my company with moonshots. You destroyed what I built. You  _ laughed  _ as everything I worked so hard for fell to pieces." Rhys glowered. 

Jack huffed. "But Rhysie, I've done nothing of the  _ sort.”  _ Jack brought up the footage of Atlas on the screen and jerked his thumb at it as he stared Rhys down. “Your HQ is pretty as a peach, as per usual; no black marks, no smoke, no fires _ ,  _ no _ nothin'. _ " He tossed some buttered popcorn into his mouth that he'd premade for this very moment and the flicker of Rhys’ eyebrow drove him crazy with power and pride. He kept up a nonchalant guise. "But by all means, don't stop the show. It's entertaining to watch you lose your shit over something that never  _ actually _ happened." Rhys opened his mouth to retort but Jack continued, cutting him off again. He stood as he spoke, beginning to close the distance between them. "Speaking of things that  _ obviously _ never happened, you  _ totally _ didn't fuck your hand thinking about me before I  _ didn't _ destroy your base, did ya?"

Jack delighted in the light dusting of pink that settled on Rhys' cheeks at this. However, the man held his chin high which Jack gave him credit for, albeit inwardly. 

"You  _ know  _ what you saw. But it wasn't over you, you egotistical _asshole_. It was over  _ winning _ ." Rhys sniffed, smiling a little as he brought up a visual of the contract on his palm holo. "And I'm not ashamed."

Jack simply stepped closer and snorted. “But that didn’t happen, did it? Because for that to have happened, you’d have had to have hunted through Hyperion’s database and...wasn’t that what you were coming up here for in the first place?” He waggled his eyebrows and beamed. Rhys turned a deep shade of red as his jaw set after clearly only just recalling that key bit of information and leverage. Jack continued forward and Rhys sucked in a breath as his own step backwards led to him bumping into the cool glass of the window. Jack pressed a hand beside his head and leant in, mouth close to Rhys' ear.

“And I didn’t think you would be ashamed, kitten,” he purred, heat thrumming in his chest and pants. “By the sounds and looks of things, you  _ wanted  _ me to notice what you were doing. And sure, who doesn’t love a good jack-off when they win? Or... _ had _ won, I guess. Ha. But  _ those eyes _ when you spoke to me?” Rhys shuddered but remained rooted to the spot as Jack’s hands found his hips. Jack lightly brushed his lips against Rhys’ ear. “Those  eyes  told me that your  _ hand _ wasn’t quite  _ enough _ .”

 

Jacks mouth trailed down across Rhys’ cheek until their mouths were millimetres apart. Both pairs of eyes were on the others’ lips and hot breath twirled between them. Jack hummed softly in the back of his throat.

 

Fuck the time-trip. Fuck the inevitable fallout of what might happen next. 

 

Jack knew what he wanted, and if this was his only chance to completely rip away the power the Atlas CEO thought he had and put him in his place?

 

_ So be it.  _

 

But it was Rhys who moved first. Jack growled under his breath, caught off guard, as Rhys curled his hands around his lapels and span them around, slamming Jack against the glass before kissing him hard. It was cold and distant, closed-mouthed and tight. Rhys let go then and stepped back, wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve. They glared at one another, breaths coming out hard and fast.

“That all you got, Atlas?” Jack hissed, frowning. “Cos I’d bet my whole company that you want a hell of a lot more than _ that. _ "

Rhys took another step back, eyes narrowing. “I  _ want  _ that contract that you signed.” Jack moved like a predator across the room towards his desk which Rhys was moving back towards. “ I  _ want  _ to get out of here and head back down to Pandora.” He didn’t move as Jack wrapped one hand around his throat and one hand around his waist. “I  _ don’t  _ want-” He was silenced as Jack kissed him slowly, opening his mouth to kiss Rhys as deeply and deliciously as he’d let him. And  _ oh _ , he let him. Rhys whimpered in the back of his throat and responded in kind, his tongue slipping into Jack’s mouth while Jack applied slight pressure to his windpipe with his thumb. They moved around the desk as they kissed and Rhys whimpered again as Jack span them around, using Rhys' weight to anchor his own ass against the desk. Settled down comfortably, Jack's hand drifted down Rhys' front to his pants. He yanked out the shirt to drag his fingers along Rhys' skin slowly, just behind the material. Rhys pushed back into him, no doubt feeling Jack's throbbing erection as he did so.

[](https://ibb.co/nM2ssdr) Jack huffed a laugh which tumbled out as more of a moan when Rhys ground down against him.

"You sexy little thing," Jack breathed into his mouth, hand still curled around his neck, pulling closer. His other had worked its way into Rhys' underwear and worked its way down towards its prize. 

All of a sudden, however, Rhys turned them about once again. Jack fought back, shoving him up against the desk and making sure to push him just a little too hard against the edge to remind him who he was dealing with. But this seemed to stir something within Rhys. The Atlas man went for Jack’s belt then, working at it furiously with both hands. Jack grinned against his lips and let go of his neck only to tear the buttons of his black shirt open. 

“I have to get back to Pandora, you  _ dick _ ,” Rhys groaned, pulling away as he pulled Jack’s zipper down. “How can I go back now?”

Jack caught Rhys’ bottom lip between his teeth and bit down before answering him with a grin. “Guess you’ll just have to stay for a while then, pumpkin-"

Jack stopped talking as Rhys thrust his hand into his pants and grasped him firmly. Rhys threw an arm around his neck and kissed him, moaning when Jack shoved his hand in  _ his  _ pants. 

" _ God,  _ I  _ knew _ it," Jack muttered against his lips. "You're definitely over-compensating for something with this  big cock of yours. I'm thinking it's _Atlas_."

"Funny, I was going to say the,  _ oh fuck _ , same for..ngh...Hyperion," Rhys bit back, a chuckle escaping him before another moan fell out of his mouth. Jack used his free hand to trace the tattoos that ran across the right side of Rhys' chest. They were strange, like nothing Jack had ever seen. They were almost cult-like in nature.

" _ Pandoran, _ " Rhys explained - like  _ that _ told Jack anything - as he noticed Jack staring at him. He did something then with his thumb over the slit of Jack's dick that made Jack whine at the back of his throat and the Hyperion man mentally kicked himself for that one.  _ He _ was supposed to be the one putting Rhys in  _ his _ place. All of a sudden, Rhys was yanking Jack's pants and underwear down to his knees. He gawked down at Jack's length as it stood tall and angry between his legs before licking his lips and glancing up at Jack with hooded eyes.  

"Jack, I-"

"Oh my god, I always  _ knew  _ you were a big fat gay, Hyperion! I called it! I did! And with Atlas nonetheless!!!  _Brilliant._ " 

The shrill voice echoed around the room. Both men snapped their heads to Jack's computer where Katagawa Jr, CEO of Maliwan, was leering at them. Jack and Rhys were frozen to the spot for a moment before they threw themselves apart and tucked away their now-deflating dicks. 

"What the hell are you doing? This is a secure line, you Maliwan cuntbag," Jack snarled, gripping the screen. "How'd you hack in?"

Katagawa threw his head back and laughed, his shoulders heaving. 

"Oh! Didn't the time shift tell you? Didn't it make you question _ everything? _ " He lowered his eyebrows and flashed his teeth. He looked to Rhys and then back to Jack, mouth curling into a wicked grin. "I opened a Vault,  _ kiddos." _


	10. Old Flames

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi! This lovely chapter was written by Sammy (@sammykh on twitter) and the amazing art was done by @utantomu on Instagram. 
> 
> Remember to scroll across to see the whole image if you're on a mobile device! 😘 ❤️

A vault.

 

Somehow Maliwan got a hold of a vault, with a time shifting artifact no less.

 

Rhys and Jack glanced at each other briefly before turning back to Katagawa, who met Rhys's eyes with a smirk.

[ ](https://ibb.co/Cn5cr07)

"Rhys, it sure has been a while hasn't it?" Katagawa begins. "Seems like only yesterday we were boozing together, having some fun of our own..."

"Woah what? You two buddies or some shit?" Jack asked, looking back and forth between Rhys and Katagawa.

"He's...ugh...an ex of mine. I'll explain later," Rhys murmured before turning to the screen. "What the hell do you want?" he snapped, glaring with crossed arms.

"Rhys really, is that how you thank me for saving Atlas from a devastating moonshot?"

"I don't need your help," Rhys said sourly.

"Oh, of course you don't. You've always had that need to be your own man, nobody tying you down," Katagawa turned to Jack. "Even though he loves being tied down, if you get my drift."

"Enough! What do you want, Junior?" Rhys interrupted, quickly deciding he wanted this day to be over with.

Katagawa glared. "Well, obviously it was to gloat. I assume you've already heard about my promotion?"

"The ol' geezer finally kicked the bucket? Didn't you have like, a dozen siblings ahead of you?" Jack piped up.

"Well, I used to, yes." Katagawa said with a smirk. 

"Damn, did you do 'em all in?" 

"Of course not. If you must know, it was a very,  _ very _ tragic accident."

"Yeah, I'm sure it was." Rhys replied, feeling a little sick at the thought.

"Well, as charming as this little reunion is, I have work to do, planets to claim, time to shift when things don't go my way," Katagawa mused. "Maliwan is going to be number one again, just you wait!" 

 

Jack snorted as the hologram of Katagawa fizzled out. "Ha! Can you believe the balls on that guy? Thinks he's gonna rise up. Well, not while I'm here, kiddo."

Rhys shook his head. "Don't underestimate him. He may not be as strong as you, but he is smarter."

Jack glared, crossing his arms. "Excuse me?"

"I'm serious, Jack. I know him better than you ever could. The man's a psychopath. I wouldn't be surprised if he did kill his siblings just to be next in line for the company. He swore he would one day, after all," Rhys explained, paying no mind to the rise in Jack's temper.

"Right, you've fucked him so you know all about him. Why'd you go for a creep like that anyway?"

Rhys rolled his eyes. "It was a few years ago, before I started working to bring Atlas up. We met at a stupid schmoozing event and hit it off. I wish I could say that I ended it soon after I got to know him, but I was young and stupid and he seemed nice and charming."

"Well, good thing I'm he-"

"You're a dumbass brute and what happened before Katagawa interrupted? That was a one time, heat of the moment thing. It's _not_ going to happen again!" Rhys declared, shutting Jack down. "In the meantime, let's figure out how we're going to steal that relic so it's no longer held by Maliwan."

Jack rolled his eyes, but they found their way to Rhys' ass anyway as the other man began to pace. "Here's an idea," he mused. "We fuck, get it all out of our systems, we go home and rest, and you come back and we make a plan."

Rhys glared at Jack. "Jack-off in your own time if you need to, but I'm not in the mood anymore," he lied before sighing. "I am exhausted though, going from a destroyed base to going back in time has really fucked with me." Rhys turned to Jack. "Tomorrow morning, you come down to Pandora to see me. We make a plan to take out Maliwan and, when we win, I get Pandora. Screw me out of it again, and I will kill you."

Jack grinned. "Sure you will kiddo.”

* * *

 

“We’ve landed safely sir," the pilot announced over the loudspeakers, the doors to the shuttle opening to allow Rhys to exit. Rhys waved at the cockpit as he stepped onto Pandoran ground once more. “Now, let’s see if Jack can keep my facilities intact this time," he mumbled to himself as he stepped off the ramp.

As soon as he was a foot from his ship, a Maliwan dropship showed up and soon enough the place was surrounded by Maliwan soldiers; the Atlas personnel were still reeling from the time shift and were still scrambled. They were quickly overrun, but Rhys was surprised to see a limited amount of death. Before Rhys could even shout an order, something was pressed to his mouth and nose. Trying not to panic, he held his breath and shook his head as he struggled to break the grip while also feeling for his gun. He gave a mental curse as he found his holster empty.

The soldier holding the rag over his face held fast, and Rhys figured it must be a bot with how immovable it seemed, even as he began being dragged backwards. 

His lungs began to protest the lack of air and he activated his eye to send a distress call before his lungs convulsed and forced him to take a desperate breath, inhaling the chemical on the rag. His head grew light instantly but he continued to struggle even as everything went black.

* * *

 

Jack was in the middle of paperwork when the comms lit up again and Katagawa's form shone once again. "Hello there, Handsome Jack of Hyperion."

"You again? Don't you have anything better to-" Jack cut off when he looked beyond Katagawa in the picture and noticed Rhys tied to a chair in the background, wearing a gag and a blindfold. Jack narrowed his eyes. "What is this?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Just a little warning. You better keep your eyes open Jack, I'm going to take you down. Especially now I have Atlas on my side!" Katagawa taunted with a smirk. A muffled groan came from the kidnapped Rhys, his head lifting slightly before beginning to squirm against the ropes. 

"Yeah, I can see that," Jack replied in almost a growl. "You have a shit way of threatening me.”

Rhys paused as he recognized the voice and began to tug harder at his restraints as the conversation continued. A guard came up and injected him with something to knock him back out.

“From your expression, Handsome Jack,” Katagawa began smugly, “it seems my threat was effective enough. So long, Jack. I’ll be seeing your dead body soon.”

Jack glared as the transmission ended. He couldn’t let Maliwan get stronger than they were already getting. Plus, Rhys’ inevitable death was  _ his _ to claim, certainly not Maliwan’s.

 

It’s a good thing Handsome Jack is a hero.

* * *

 

Rhys woke up with a groan, his wrists and ankles as sore as his head. He groaned at the wave of pain that rushed over his head as he opened his eyes and attempted to sit up as he began to recall what had happened to him. He jerked his hand, expecting resistance, but was surprised to find his hand was free. He wasn’t restrained and he was also laying on a couch of sorts.

"Ah, Rhys, you recovered from that sooner than I thought," Katagawa's voice said from near him. The headrush faded and Rhys looked around to see he was in a decently-sized office room. "Humble, isn't it? These 'on location' offices can be really...cute sometimes." Katagawa chuckled as he sat a glass of water down on the end table next to the couch.

"Where am I?" Rhys said, rubbing his head and trying to ignore his pounding heart, leaning slightly away from Katagawa when he approached.

"Near Pandora. You should see my home office. It would put your hate-fuck's to shame," Katagawa mused, walking back the way he came to sit on the edge of his desk.

"And  _ why _ am I here? If you say a merger or something fucking stup-"

"Rhys! Rhys~" Katagawa interrupted. "That's not it at all. See, I noticed that you and Hyperion there have your...issues. Help me out, and we both can get what we want."

"And why would I help you?" Rhys growled, feeling his empty holster again, all too aware of how unarmed and vulnerable he was.

"I can give you Pandora. All of it, no strings attached. All you have to do is help me destroy Hyperion. See? Like I said, this is a win-win for both of us~"

Rhys's eyes wided. "What?"

"Just as I said. With Hyperion out of the way, we will finally have the space to grow. Both of us. See, you're already in his pants, so some spy work and a quick little backstab should be no problem. You get your planet, and Maliwan is no longer second best, and everything between us becomes water under the bridge~ Right now he thinks I've kidnapped you and that I'm holding you hostage, so he shouldn't suspect a thing should you accept. " Katagawa stood up, and held out his hand. "What do you say Rhys? Let's both get what we want."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those two for this!!! Onto the next chapter! 😍


	11. What's God to a Titan?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Very,very sorry about the gap between posting. I (loki) let time slip me by and haven't been keeping up with updating. Life's been a bit of a whirlwind!
> 
> Our new chapter has once again been written by the incredibly talented Toast (@ToastyDehmer). Unfortunately, we couldn't pin down an artist for this chapter. However, Toast will blow you away enough with their fab writing skills. 
> 
> xxxx

Rhys eyed at the proffered hand, features shuttered.

Succinctly put, Katagawa was a brat. An insolent, stuck up, spoiled brat. It was why Rhys broke up with him a few years back. He, unlike Junior there, actually grew the fuck up and out of petty squabbles. Katagawa though? Always stuck on his siblings, the title of ‘Daddy’s favorite’ constantly being shuffled around - from the youngest’s perspective anyways. Rhys had seen it for what it was, symptoms of believing the universe revolved around yourself. Kinda sucked that Rhys only realized it after they hooked up for…

Damn...he really dated someone so pathetic for  _ seven months? _ Rhys withheld his shudder.

“Well?” Katagawa prodded, his cheshire-cat grin as untrustworthy as it had been when he first asked Rhys out all that time ago. Ominous eyes drowned in insidious intentions with lips of pearly white teeth trying to beguile the foolish.

There was no doubt in Rhys’ mind that if he accepted, Katagawa would turn around and stab Rhys in the back once Hyperion was out of the way.

It’s a good thing Rhys planned on doing the same. And if Katagawa was worth his weight in salt, he knew this too. Then again, with a relic that could alter time...who knew if Katagawa had already dealt with this in the past. So far, Rhys and everyone else had been able to tell when there was a timeshift. But…

Rhys took Katagawa’s hand, elegant and suave as he settled in his seat. His presence bloomed, taking control of his lapse of power with an ease that spoke of tedious practice. The single shake and he slotted the last piece of the facade into place, making it seem for his audience of one that Rhys was in this and steadfast about his ‘choice’.

“You have yourself a deal,” Rhys murmured. Atlas gold met Maliwan orange, fire striking fire as Rhys went on to say, “Of course we’ll be hammering out the details before anything but I’m sure that by now, lover-boy is on his way.”

The word ‘lover-boy’ was something he wanted to scrub off his tongue the old fashion way - with a toothbrush and soap. Saying it and meaning Jack didn’t make it any better.

Rhys dropped the shake, cooly meeting Katagawa’s grin, the noirette’s features taking on a downright sadistic air.

“Riiiiight. Jack.” Katagawa turned and wagged his finger, head tilted. Rhys could only just barely glimpse his sharp smile. “If any of my last attempts at this scenario are anything to go by, he should be arriving within an hour.”

Rhys’ eyes imperceptibly narrowed, body wanting to turn rigid, a snarl built in his throat. _He fucking_ _knew it._ This wasn’t the first time Katagawa had played this game with Rhys and Jack. Rhys forced himself to stay relaxed, left arm going up to rest along the back of the couch while the other innocently laid in his lap, one leg crossed over the other at the knee. His suit jacket had gone missing at some point and it left him in a black button-up shirt, cuffs rolled back, top buttons left open and his favorite orange pinstripes on black vest. Honestly, he was both surprised and thankful he still had on the same pants and shoes from before, black skinny slacks and skagskin leather.

Katagawa stood in front of the wide windows behind the desk, one gloved hand on his hip, the other left hanging at his side.

“Mm, maybe less,” they muttered. They brought their free hand up, tapping at their chin. Rhys watched this all with a bored mask, silent and waiting. “After all, I did decide to take my time in grabbing you. So far I’ve always nabbed you right after you left Helios. Then again, you woke up sooner than expected.”

A moment of silence. Probably a contemplative one for Katagawa but for Rhys, it was fuelled by fury.

This. Little.  _ Shithead. _ Did Katagawa really think Rhys would let this fly? Did he seriously believe that just because he’s played with time that he knew everything little thing that Rhys would do? The rational person in Rhys’ mind knew that it was likely. No, more than likely. It was almost certain. But the louder part? The aggressive part?

_ Ooooooooh. It wanted to strike back. _

If anyone was going to take down Hyperion, it would be Rhys and  _ only _ Rhys. They were his beast to hunt, his prey. Katagawa seemed to believe Rhys was a wolf and would willingly, happily fall in with a pack. He wasn’t and he wouldn’t.

Rhys was a tiger, golden orange and ebony black flashing for the warning sign it was. And if Katagawa failed to see that well- wasn’t Rhys’ fault mutts were colorblind.

He’d get back at Katagawa  _ and _ have his treasure in the end. At that point, Hyperion falling would just be a bonus.

Man, Rhys couldn’t wait to see the look on Katagawa’s face when he finally recognized his great error.

...So much for not being petty anymore.

“Guess I’ll find out soon enough,” Katagawa easily hummed with a shrug. He looked over his shoulder at Rhys, orange eye softly glowing. Rhys watched him back, his own eyes glowing equally as bright. Rhys wasn’t new to this trick. It was one he utilized often. Not many people liked looking at something so real-looking but unnatural. A glowing ECHOeye often made most folks squirm. But Rhys met the challenge with a bored expression.

Delight danced on the back of his tongue when Katagawa sneered and looked back out at the endless expanse of space, distant stars glimmering, hands clasped behind his back.

“I’ll have my people get in contact with one of your’s about this...contract-”

“No.”

Rhys met Katagawa inch for inch as the other belatedly half-turned, glaring at Rhys down the length of a shoulder. It would take more than a little glare to turn Rhys sheepish, even Handsome Jack knew that by then.

Katagawa must’ve really thought himself special.

“Excuse me?” the brat hissed. Incredulity fit him. Rhys should try to flabbergast him more often, could make a hobby out of it really.

“You heard me, Jr.” Yeah, no, Rhys wasn’t afraid to jab the bear. Well, more like a cub than an actual bear. Still dangerous with claws and teeth and anger. But clumsy. Katagawa would predictably make a mistake at some point. He always did.

The look Katagawa gave Rhys was- calling it toxic would be putting it lightly. Calling it ugly would be a  _ vast _ understatement… but fitting.

“Perhaps I didn’t. Mind stating it again? Just for the record?”

What a pompous asshole.

“No.” Rhys stood up. He straightened his cuffs as he walked, smoothing out any wrinkles, titanium-alloy forearm looking closer to mercury in the lowlight. Fluid. Natural. “If we’re doing this, we’re doing this one on one. No corporate lackeys in the way, not if you want my cooperation.” He tugged on his vest and stopped only a few scant steps from Katagawa Jr., loving the few inches he had on him more than he ever had in the past. Rhys smirked down at his Ex. “I’m Atlas, for fuck’s sake.”

Formulating a response seemed to take a second longer for Jr. but when he did have a comeback-

“And with my relic, I’m practically a God.”

Rhys’ lips nearly split with his toothy, predatory grin. He leaned his head in closer just that slightest bit and replied in a low tone that promised a threat if tread on, “What’s a God to a  _ Titan _ ?”

Honestly, he expected the grab at his shirt but the strength behind it which threw Rhys back and to the ground was new. Rhys winced as he hit the floor, body bouncing once with the force before settling. Everyone else? Oh they probably would be shitting their pants or getting up and preparing for one hell of a fist fight. But of course Rhys broke the mold.

He laughed. He guffawed. He wheezed, gasping for air because-

“ _ You actually did it!? _ ” Rhys wrapped his arms around his aching midsection, eyes tearing up. Katagawa growled, scowling as he stalked forward. “You chopped off your arm! Holy shit, you’re more fucked up than Jac- HHHH!”

He curled in tighter around his stomach, Katagawa’s boot harder than it looked. Rhys was still wheezing but for a whole different reason now. He couldn’t help chuckling though.

See, the ECHOeye Rhys knew about. Katagawa talked about getting one a couple months before Rhys left him. But getting his arm replaced with a cybernetic one only popped up about a week before their breakup. And all because he wanted to match Rhys.

Jesus christ- this mediocre wannabe-tyrant was still infatuated with Rhys, wasn’t he?

“I am  _ so much better _ than that neanderthal,” Katagawa seethed. He sat back on the balls of his feet and grabbed Rhys by his hair, lifting his head up. Rhys grimaced at the painful hold.

He knew Katagawa would strain to do that, delicate thing he was. But his arm never wavered, never shook. So...his left one was the one replaced, his dominant hand. Rhys saw it for what it was, a sad attempt at a mirror.

_ ‘You’ll never reach my level, brat.’ _

Rhys grinned at Katagawa’s face.

“Tell me,” Katagawa started conversationally. Like this was an everyday occurrence. It wasn’t, not even close, but it was definitely within the realm of what Rhys expected. “Why should I even debate listening to a single thing that comes from between your lips, Rhys?”

_ ‘I mean, I’ve had your dick between these lips and yet you listened to it plenty of times in the past.’  _ If only he could use such a damn good quip without worry of getting a busted lip in return. Aw shucks.

Instead, Rhys shrugged.

“Entertainment for yourself? It’s easy to tell by the way you talked earlier that you’ve either been able to play everything out over and over again using your precious relic or… you’ve been able to see ahead to any scenario you could think of. Either or is likely but in reality, a measure of both is the most probable answer. It’s Eridian tech after all. Go big or go home for them, am I right?.”

Rhys had opened a Vault of his own before. He knew how Eridian shit worked...for the most part. It was a slight bluff but the way Katagawa’s eyes tightened told Rhys his shot in the dark hit something at the very least.

“Everything of theirs has a limit or a cooldown,” Rhys went on. “And I’ll take a gander and say you can only reset time so often before it needs to recharge. Of course it’ll let you take a peek at the possible futures in the meanwhile.

“Obviously you have the upperhand so why not enjoy it?”

It was all entirely guesswork but the more Rhys spoke his train of thought out loud, the more sense it made. After all, if time had been shifted, Rhys would know but he didn’t ever remember being taken from Helios. And yet Katagawa spoke as if the option wasn’t new to him. But! He had been surprised when Rhys spoke back. He gotten riled up when Rhys insulted him. Much of this was new. Or at least not among the scenarios Katagawa expected. And if Katagawa really wanted, he could’ve reset this to whatever he desired by now. Hell, Katagawa could have made it that he already won against every other company in the universe.

But he didn’t. Or perhaps rather, he couldn’t.

Meaning, the relic had very clear limits that Katagawa would have to work around. All Rhys needed to do to unravel Katagawa’s plan and demolish Hyperion in the same swing was piece it all together. If he played his cards right… he could steal the relic from Katagawa.

Damn… that would be handy as hell.

Katagawa opened his mouth. “You-”

Blaring sirens interrupted him and they both looked around. Katagawa frowned and sighed, dropping Rhys’ head. Immediately, Rhys pulled away cradling both the aching spot and his sore stomach.

“Seems like Jack arrived right on schedule,” Katagawa demurely pouted. Yeah, Jack. Just Jack. Juuuuuust Jack. Rhys hid his grin. “Guess I better make sure he believes our hoax.”

Confused, Rhys blinked and looked up at Katagawa.

“Wha-?”

A gloved, metal fist rammed into his face and knocked Rhys out cold.

Waking up this time was definitely worse than before. Rhys’ one wrist still had a slight ache and his ankles were giving him grief but not as much as his stomach. His head though, even all the other areas combined couldn’t hold a candle to his raging headache. That included his (he prodded it with his tongue to double check) busted lower lip. Ouch.

Guess he should’ve made that quip about Jr’s dick when he had the chance.

Rhys blinked eyes open, the light feeling all too bright. When he was able to focus, what he found himself stuck in was more along the lines of what he expected in the beginning.

First, his ECHOeye was down. There was no feedback coming from it and he couldn’t see for shit. Second, that meant Rhys’ arm was mostly likely out for the count for the time being as well. An attempt to move it proved that hypothesis true. Thirdly, his arms were bound behind him with cuffs and he was stuck in a chair. Classic evil villain bullshit. Ugh. Did Katagawa really have no imagination? Oh wait, that was right, Rhys was intimately aware of how little of it the Maliwan asshole had. Literally.

No tact, no class, and no originality. As always.

Rhys clicked his tongue at the predictability of it all.

The room Rhys saw around himself was barren, no distinctive signs or tells of where exactly this specific room was located within the...station? Compound? Rhys still wasn’t sure. Seeing as all the walls so far had been clearly made from metal, it could go either way. Though Rhys would admit it was leaning further towards the former. There was sound but it was either far away or the walls were damn thick. Muffled, all of it was muffled but Rhys was sure he picked up on the sound of gunshots, familiar as he was with them.

With nothing else to do, he attempted to reboot his systems. It failed. Of course it would. Had to make it ‘believable’ after all.

_ ‘But was the split lip really necessary?’ _ he petulantly complained, silent while prodding at the bloody spot with his tongue. At least it was mostly dried.

The gunshots were getting closer and were starting to sound clearer.

Katagawa’s words floated back to him the same moment Rhys contemplated what to do next.

_ “Guess I better make sure he believes our hoax.” _

Rhys had a part to play.

“HEY!!!” Rhys yelled as loudly as could, bellowing at the top of his lungs. “IN HERE!!!”

Closer. There was yelling, some screaming, and definitely some death going on outside the small, small room. Barely twenty-five square feet.

Then the noise dies down. There’s stomping, walking, some sprinting… and then it starts drawing away.

Hey. Wait. No. That’s not how this was supposed to work!

Rhys took a deep breath in.

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYY-”

The wall in front of him exploded. Well, not completely true. There’s definitely an explosion from the other side and Rhys flinched back. For a stilted second, nothing else happened. Then a section of the wall fell back. A door. Rhys didn’t even know it was there. There weren’t any seams. But sure as shit it fell too neatly to be a natural split and who else stood behind it than none other but Lorelei, Atlas’ number one general.

Rhys was really okay with not having to face Jack just yet.

“Am I ever grateful to see your mug, Lorelei,” Rhys sighed, relaxing while she walked through the hole. Experienced hands easily took apart Rhys’ holdings. And by experienced he meant one of Atlas’ standard localized scrambling devices. Around the chair she went, little device held near the cuffs.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you in one piece,” a moment and the cuffs opened right up. Rhys wasted no time in bring his flesh one in front of him, opening and closing his hand. His cybernetic one still hung limply at his side. “But...I’d honestly thought you’d be a bit more roughed up. What’s up?”

Rhys tried again to reboot his arm as he responded and grinned when it slowly began to initialize. Just a minute or two at most and he’d have both arms back.

“I have a lot to tell you but for now, let’s simply leave it at Jack and Katagawa are both going to be in for a surprise in the near future.”

Rhys pushed out of the chair and stood up, stretching.

“That just sounds like trouble for me,” she grumbled.

He debated telling her more right there and then. There couldn’t be any harm as long as he didn’t go into details. If Katagawa was clever enough, he’d already realized that Rhys had no intention of completely bowing down to him. He’d go through with it of course but he’d take every step forward with only his own gains in mind. Rhys’ goals. Which were ultimately the fall of two of his competitor’s. If nothing else it would at least mean a major hit to both Hyperion and Maliwan stocks. Get them low and enough and Rhys could possibly even buy them out.

But where was he? Right, letting Lorelei in on his plans.

In the distance were the very muffled sounds of a firefight on both a small and a large scale but it seemed to either be coming to an end or it was smaller than Rhys had originally assumed it would be. Rhys crossed his arms and looked out the blasted doorway. His arm was finished and was now jumpstarting his eye. There were a squadron of Atlas soldiers out in the hall keeping their eyes open for any threats.

“Think we have enough time here for me to fill you in on the basics?” His head teeter-tottered as he took an estimate on how long that would take. “Five minutes give or take a couple, ten at most.”

His commander scoffed and came to stand at his side.

“We’ve got more than plenty with Hyperion forces playing distraction for us. They still don’t know we’re here, stupid yanks.”

Rhys didn’t waste time sugar coating things or pulling his punches.

“Katagawa opened a Vault and got himself a shiny new relic that can change the past or present.”

As expected Lorelei spluttered, nearly choked on her own spit. He felt her wide eyes drill into the side of his head.

“Uhm, excuse me? What?! That’s what the weird thing was hours ago?!" Rhys nodded. His eye was almost there. Just a few more checks and it would be officially online.

“And he asked me to join him in taking down Hyperion. If I do then I get Pandora.”

“And- what, he gets the rest of the universe in the palm of his hand!?”

“More than likely,” Rhys answered with a shrug. “And after that he’d go back on his word and come for us anyways.”

The station gave a small quake, barely noticeable if it weren’t for the sound of the little bits of debris shaking on the floor from the door being blasted.

“He wants me to play double agent. Or at least treat Jack like some fucked up form of a honeypot mission.”

“....Ew.”

Rhys huffed a laugh but the quiver of excitement through his body betrayed his real opinions to no one but himself. He wouldn’t lie...that high he had felt after stealing Pandora right from under Jack’s nose had been...intoxicating.

And addictive.

“Tell me about it.” He shook his head and took the first step out of that room with Lorelei following a pace behind. Together they navigated the hallways with deceptive ease when really it was Lorelei leading the show here. Leading a troop or issuing strategic battle commands or fighting wasn’t often Rhys’ area of expertise. His was in a boardroom or a faculty meeting or his personal labs in the middle of a never ending Promethean night. But it  _ was _ Lorelei’s.

Rhys was more than happy to concede those tasks to her more than capable self.

“So what now?” she asked as they drew closer to the fight. Just one last door between them and mayhem. Rhys could tell by how loud the bullets were in his ears, the muffled yelling and screaming so close yet so far. They walked up as a group with Lorelei and Rhys leading and the doors rose, opening up to a scene of chaos.

It was a loading and docking bay and huge for those reasons. There were gaggles of Hyperion and Maliwan forces strewn everywhere, taking cover and taking aim, both sides hoping the score one more hit than the other. There were dents and blast marks on the walls, small shuttles destroyed and left to sit on the floor in mangled wrecks. A Maliwan fighter rig had been crashed in the wall above Rhys’ head, stuck in there. No doubt that had been what caused the rumbling in the ground earlier.

Out past the docks and out into the freedom of space was where the anarchy played at five times the speed of the shit directly in front of Rhys’ group, making the little battle of arms and ammunitions seem like a petty playground squabble in comparison. Streaking shots of blue and red and green and yellow and white sped from one craft to another, some looking as small as the tip of a needle, others as large as god damned skyscraper, a Hyperion warship standing out from the mess with bright yellow markings.

The air in the docking bay was still despite the erratic battle. Rhys took a deep breath in. Held it. Slowly let it out.

Lorelei handed him a Chameleon and Rhys clipped it onto his belt once he checked the device over.

“I’m guessing the field test was a success?” he quietly murmured to Lorelei.

“If it didn’t, would we have been able to sneak past Maliwan forces unimpeded?” She crossed her arms and gave Rhys a flat look. “Would I be giving one to you now if it didn’t work? In case you were wondering, the answer is ‘no, you daft arse’.”

“Thaaaat’s fair.”

They were out of general sight of those fighting. If the state of the gate was anything to go by, they had all moved on from where Rhys, Lorelei, and their Atlas troop stood a while ago.

She hummed. Then, “You still haven’t answered my question.”

“Hm?”

She rolled her eyes with a sigh. “Really, Rhys? I asked ‘what now’?”

Rhys grinned like a content devil, calm joy a veil for intentions much darker.

“Now,” he serenely started, “we board that Hyperion warship.” Rhys held his flesh and blood pointer finger against the Chameleon’s scanner. In an instant, the cloaking technology took over and he vanished from sight. Lorelei and the Atlas soldiers followed suit and Rhys was delighted to find the FOF coding was working perfectly as well; he could see the outlines of his guard posse.

“I have a handsome bastard to fool.”

Sneaking onto the warship was laughably easy with Rhys’ sleeve of tricks back online. Any door he walked up to opened flawlessly, his processors working past each individual firewall without a hitch. All without setting of an alarm. Still cloaked as they were Rhys knew any camera not compatible with Chameleon’s tech would fail to see them. They walked through the halls unhindered. It was even easier to send a message Jack’s way with an attached location.

Sitting in some storage room, Rhys knew as soon as the warship started pulling away from the Maliwan station that Jack had gotten it. Both Lorelei and Rhys’ guards had been sent off. With Chameleon, they could run surveillance on the ship while Rhys kept Jack...distracted.

He stood in the back leaning his side against a metal crate, still hidden from human sight. Of course he was stuck in his clothes from hours and hours ago. Felt disgusting. But he looked put together enough that Rhys felt confident when the door swiftly opened up and Jack stepped through. That confidence wavered when he took in the other’s man’s face.

“Rhys?!” He looked almost….afraid. It was barely seen and it was different than the fear Jack had shown when Rhys showed him Angel. This felt more personal. Almost as if Jack actually had an inkling of care for the Atlas CEO in his veins. It was confusing. Jack caring for Rhys? Something that suspiciously felt like hope began to simmer in Rhys but he viciously squashed it beneath his heel.

He would not let this bastard get under his skin. Fuck that noise.

“....Rhys?” Jack was looking around the storage room, turning and scouring for Rhys. When he had Jack’s back to him, he turned off his Chameleon with a blink of his eyes and cleared his throat. Jack whirled around and stared at Rhys.

A small sigh (of relief?) and Jack gave his usual smarmy grin to Rhys. Whatever concern Rhys thought he saw was swiftly shuttered behind Jack’s walls. Not that it existed in the first place. Rhys refused to believe it.

“You know for a hot second there I was doubting that message you gave me,” Jack hummed, stowing his hands in his pockets and stepping closer. Rhys pushed off the crate with a raised brow, standing upright, arms crossed. Jack shrugged. “Who knows what Maliwan’s 12th most unimportant kiddo did in that time. Could’ve gone into your systems and grabbed your personal signal.”

“And why would he ask you to come here if he did that?” Rhys asked, squinting at Jack because seriously? Insult to Rhys’ intellect and skill. His cyber-security and firewalls were tighter than the Jakobs family’s collective prissy assholes. Rhys would even bet without a single worry it was better than Jack’s own firewalls on his private servers. Because he had done that before. Get past Jack’s firewalls. He still wondered when Jack would catch on to that… It had been a few years ago.

“-not like I know how his freaky mind works - something you would seeing as he’s  _ your _ ex.”

Right. Rhys was talking to Jack.

“My ex from more than a couple years ago, Jack,” Rhys sighed.

Jack had come closer in the time it took Rhys to come back to their conversation. Less than a couple feet apart. Rhys was becoming very aware of the lack of space between them. Close enough to make note of the fresh specks of blood along the bottom edges of Jack’s suit jacket and vest and along his forearms. Rhys looked up and found Jack looking right back, eyes hard and dark and full of something hidden behind walls upon walls. Rhys’ furrowed his brows. What was… Jack was acting off. Weird.

“He wouldn’t have been able to make it past my walls.”

And like that the moment was broken and Jack chuckled. The Hyperion CEO leaned back.

“Sound too confident for your own good, kid-” Rhys didn’t hesitate to harshly elbow Jack in the sternum before he could finish that sentence.

“Don’t-”

“Call you ‘kiddo’, yeah yeah yeah,” Jack breathed, leaning forward and rubbing at the hurt area, scowling at Rhys. He soon stood back up. “Did you at least learn anything while you were stuck in that shithole?”

Rhys grinned, letting the malicious feeling unfurl in his eyes and smirk.

“Yes, I did,” he answered. Jack immediately perked up, attention fully on Rhys now. He reminded Rhys of a poised predator. Still. Dangerous. “That time relic. He’s-”

Deep, vibrant, sharp pain stopping Rhys in his tracks. He couldn’t even cry out as electricity went from his head to his toes and back up again, collapsing in the same second.

He felt Jack drop down to his side, catching him mid-fall and keeping Rhys from braining himself on any of the crates, saw his face, saw his lips moving, saw that fear from earlier back, saw the panic. But Rhys couldn’t hear anything outside of the ringing in his ears. And then he heard’s Katagawa’s voice loud and clear.

_ “It’s good to see it actually work this time around,” _ the man purred, satisfaction dripping from the Maliwan-blue text that typed itself over Rhys’ orange ECHOeye HUD.  _ “You know, I wasn’t sure because there was always a 34% chance it wouldn’t take no matter what I tried. But it looks like I lucked out.” _

Rhys’ sight was starting to go dim, tunnel vision coming in around the edges. His body shook with horrible aftershocks. His ECHOeye was going wild.

_ “Remember our deal, Rhys? I can’t have you going and betraying me by partnering up with your one night fling! I wouldn’t suggest trying that again. You may not survive the next punishment.” _ A poisonous chuckle.  _ “You do your part and I’ll do mine. And don’t forget! I’ll be watching.” _

The text and voice disappeared. Rhys opened his eyes. When had he closed them? Lorelei was back and she had Jack pinned against the wall by his lapels, knuckles pale. Rhys’ guards were outside the door and trying to fight against Jack’s soldiers. Rhys lifted his hand, reached for them…

And his world went dark, again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave Toasty some love in the comments!!! xxx
> 
> If YOU would like to write the next chapter to the fic, please contact me on Twitter @_loki_dokey!


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